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Swine Flu Spreads Panic Over The Web
techcrunch.com ^ | 04/26/09 | Leena Rao

Posted on 04/26/2009 3:42:31 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3

Earlier today, the U.S. declared a public health emergency over the Swine Flu, after confirming 20 cases of the flu spreading to humans in New York, Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California. More than 80 people have died in Mexico from the disease, which has potentially spread to other countries, including Canada and France. Although Federal officials are urging Americans not to panic about the disease, fear of contracting the potentially deadly flu is quickly spreading over Twitter, Google, and blogs across the web.

Swine Flu is the top trending topic on Twitter at the moment, with users rapidly tweeting about the latest news about the disease, including whether it has spread to other states, the Center for Disease Control’s announcement, etc.

Google Trends reports that “Swine Flu Ohio” is the 27th most popular search keyword currently, with searches for the “CDC” and “Swine Flu Symptoms” also making the top 100 keyword searches on Google.

Google Maps have also been created to chart the spread of the Swine Flu. Below is a Google Map created by a bio medical engineer, that charts suspect and confirmed cases of the Swine Flu in the U.S. and Mexico.

(Excerpt) Read more at techcrunch.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Mexico; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: flu; influenza; internet; media; mexicanflu; newmedia; panic; swine; swineflu
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1 posted on 04/26/2009 3:42:31 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
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To: TornadoAlley3
All of it utter nonsense. There is no sign of any lethality, since everyone in the US who got it has had only the mildest symptoms. "But people in Mexico die from it!" No, they get it, and they die too. They live in Mexico, they drink the water, they get all kinds of crap wrong with themselves and they die of it sometimes.

Cease cause, cease effect. No mystery whatever, just a deliberate doom-mongering hysteria.

2 posted on 04/26/2009 3:45:13 PM PDT by JasonC
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To: TornadoAlley3

Great.
I guess everyone’s gonna blame ME for this...


3 posted on 04/26/2009 3:47:00 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Satisfaction was my sin)
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To: RandallFlagg

4 posted on 04/26/2009 3:48:50 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 (Obama is everything Oklahoma is not.)
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To: RandallFlagg

***Great.
I guess everyone’s gonna blame ME for this...***

Dubya, is that you!?


5 posted on 04/26/2009 3:50:07 PM PDT by Mrs.Z
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To: RandallFlagg

They said swine flu,not captain trips.Just don`t start turning into a raven!


6 posted on 04/26/2009 3:52:15 PM PDT by nomad
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To: Mrs.Z

M.O.O.N. that spells Tom Cullen.


7 posted on 04/26/2009 3:52:58 PM PDT by desertsolitaire (M.O.O.N. that spells SCARY.)
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To: TornadoAlley3
Below is a Google Map created by a bio medical engineer, that charts suspect and confirmed cases of the Swine Flu in the U.S. and Mexico.

And what are his qualifications? Google has already been contracted months ago to track *searches* that tend to indicate a current or potential flu by using their Google so called experts. In other words...Google is in the tank to solidify and confirm a epidemic or in this case, a potential pandemic. Hysteria is a necessary ingredient to accomplish Barry's destruction of the United States of America.

8 posted on 04/26/2009 3:53:09 PM PDT by katiekins1 (I Bow to No One)
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To: JasonC
Seems the normal death toll from flu in the United States is about 36,000 people per year.

Given that the number of people infected is less than the number of people with a driver's license, this makes catching the flu far more dangerous than driving a car all year long.

Just putting it in perspective for you.

9 posted on 04/26/2009 3:55:05 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: RandallFlagg
"I guess everyone’s gonna blame ME for this..."

Gonna? We've been blaming you for last last few days!

sw

10 posted on 04/26/2009 3:56:52 PM PDT by spectre (Spectre's wife)
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To: TornadoAlley3
They're hiding the real truth:

Western civilization is nearing collapse as oil runs out, and the Chinese are making vast leaps forward by miniaturizing themselves and training groups of hundreds to think as one. Eventually, the miniaturization proceeds to the point that they become so small that they cause a plague among those who accidentally inhale them, ultimately destroying Western civilization beyond repair.

11 posted on 04/26/2009 3:57:15 PM PDT by paulycy (BEWARE the LIBERAL/MEDIA Complex)
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To: muawiyah

You didn’t account for illegals driving around drunk, without licenses or insurance.


12 posted on 04/26/2009 4:00:13 PM PDT by bgill (The evidence simply does not support the official position of the Obama administration)
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Comment #13 Removed by Moderator

To: JasonC

“All of it utter nonsense. There is no sign of any lethality, since everyone in the US who got it has had only the mildest symptoms. “But people in Mexico die from it!” No, they get it, and they die too. They live in Mexico, they drink the water, they get all kinds of crap wrong with themselves and they die of it sometimes.”

So far, there’s not a big enough sample size in the US to conclude much of anything about lethality here. In a week or two, we will know whether the “there’s nothing wrong” crowd is right or the “we’re all gonna die crowd” is right.

At this point, there are three pieces of evidence supporting the later crowd: (1) Known Mexican death rate of around 6%. But you are right that health standards are not as good there as here. OTOH, even given poor Mexican health standards, I don’t think that 6% of Mexicans infected with the normal flu die. And that’s the best number we have right now. Even if that number is high, 1% is a very high number for fatalities for the flu. (2) The bug has been sequenced and it contains swine and avian flu segments in it’s genome. The same bug has shown up in the US as is killing folks in Mexico. Possible 1918 redux. (3) The bug is spreading extremely late in the flu season, as did the 1918 flu.

I’m in the “take reasonable precautions now” crowd. Our family is avoiding groups of people for the next week—it costs almost nothing and seems prudent. At that point, we will reassess the data. There ought to be a pretty big US sample size by then because there is a lot of evidence that this bug is very infectious and spreads very quickly.


14 posted on 04/26/2009 4:04:18 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: bgill
I think we have a good count on the number of people who catch the flu, particularly the illegals who go to the hospital for treatment and snacks.

The number of people with a driver license is still greater than the usual number of people who get the flu over the course of a year.

Now, about risks in driving, you could encounter an illegal alien driving without insurance who smacks into the side of your car and then pops a lugi on you.

Now that'd be bad.

15 posted on 04/26/2009 4:04:47 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: ModelBreaker

While experts believe Mexico is the epicenter of the outbreak, they don’t know if another virus might be circulating in Mexico that could be compounding the problem. The Mexican death rate sounds bad. But it’s possible that far more than 1,000 people have been infected with the virus.

Genetic analysis of virus samples in the two countries is continuing. The CDC says tests results show the U.S. and Mexican viruses are essentially the same, but some experts have not ruled out the possibility that the virus is changing as it leaks across the border to the north.


16 posted on 04/26/2009 4:10:55 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 (Obama is everything Oklahoma is not.)
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Somebody bought casket futures? :)


17 posted on 04/26/2009 4:20:19 PM PDT by lonestar (Obama is turning Bush's "mess" into a catastrophe.)
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To: TornadoAlley3

“While experts believe Mexico is the epicenter of the outbreak, they don’t know if another virus might be circulating in Mexico that could be compounding the problem. The Mexican death rate sounds bad. But it’s possible that far more than 1,000 people have been infected with the virus.

Genetic analysis of virus samples in the two countries is continuing. The CDC says tests results show the U.S. and Mexican viruses are essentially the same, but some experts have not ruled out the possibility that the virus is changing as it leaks across the border to the north.”

All good points. And they confirm what I said earlier—we just don’t have enough data to draw high-probability conclusions yet. But that includes both of the extreme conclusions. Neither hypothesis (doom or no-problemo) has enough support to make serious decisions yet.


18 posted on 04/26/2009 4:31:36 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: TornadoAlley3
I hear this new flu is airborne.

Can you also get it from the Internet, or does my anti-virus program protect me?

19 posted on 04/26/2009 4:37:55 PM PDT by Doe Eyes
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To: Doe Eyes
Can you also get it from the Internet, or does my anti-virus program protect me?

Be sure to wash your mouse real good before going online. I put mine in the dishwasher, but I did it too late. When I plugged it back in, my mouse had already succumbed to the swine flu.

20 posted on 04/26/2009 5:05:36 PM PDT by Bronzewound
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