Mystery Illness Thread (press Conference @ 1pm est.)

15 March 2003 | KickRightRudder

[KickRightRudder]

MSNBC reports mystery illness in Asia-kills every one infected so far. Hundreds more infected. Airlner to Toronto with infected man has been quarentined-- all passengers.

CDC is "EXTREMELY concerned". If these hundreds who are infected die in the next couple of days, we might have the beginnings of a panic. After sophisticated test doctors don't know what it is. Like flu or Pnemonia symptoms, except everybody dies. Press conference at 1pm.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

**snore**

More whining from the "America is for white pseudo Christians only" crowd, as you masquerade as patriots.

Go back to LF, loser.

[Maeve]

Thanks for the welcome!

[Maeve]

After 9/11 saving my family's lives is far more important than whether or not the airlines go bankrupt. My husband's a pilot, so I say that with having thought about it long and hard.

[Cachelot]

That's a typical far left liberal "talking-point" used to demonize staunch conservatives.

Actually, you seem to have your head fairly far up your a$$. What do your tonsils look like from behind?

Anyway, let's examine this a little. Let's go to your archetypical "paleo-con" place (LF) and look at the articles there.

Without doing an on-the-spot count here and now, I can tell you that a significant part of the porridge will be from "far-left" sources. Village Voice has seemed overwhelmingly prevalent at times, and the last one I bothered to look at was from some seditionist nazi "sergeant" who felt that the best thing next to sliced bread was "The World Socialist Website".

You lose, loser.

[null and void]

So, ummm, did the press conference ever, umm, like, happen??

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Judith Anne]

MSNBC didn't show it, just had a brief synopsis around 2pm. All the information in the synopsis is on the threads here.

[null and void]

Pretty much devoid of any real info. Not very surprising, they can't say what they don't know, let alone what they don't want to say for fear of stampeding the sheep...

[NMC EXP]

There's a bit more to it than that.

It doesn't matter how they arrived. LF is not a neo-nazi site Just as Skokie is not home to a bunch of skinheads.

If they offend you let them know why. I do.

Encouraging censorship in the world of 1's and 0's does not make the situation in the meat world disappear. They just go underground.

Regards

J.R.

[Malsua]

Oh just great.

I have to go to Hong Kong...specifically Fuyong which is about an hour nw of HK in the next 60 days or so.

Joy.

-Mal

[octobersky]

bttt

[Dog Gone]

Would you greatly mind if I took out a life insurance policy on you? My stock portfolio ain't doing so hot.

[Neuromancer]

Sat Mar 15, 8:46 AM ET

Vietnamese staff at the Vietnam-France Hospital chat at the gate of the hospital in Hanoi, March 15, 2003, after the hospital had to be closed when about 20 medical staff developed symptoms of a mystery flu-like virus. The World Health Organization (news - web sites) said on Saturday that a mystery killer respiratory illness had become a 'worldwide health threat' after spreading beyond Asia and issued a warning to travelers and airlines on the symptoms.

[spectre]

You're a goner if you move to Las Vegas..."Trashie" will be there..."The Big One for You"!

My dreams of Mother Abigail say "go to Colorado Springs"..grins.

sw

[Marie]

Seriously, a chill went up my spine when I hit this thread.

Me too. I homeschool my kids and was just teaching my daughter about the Spanish Flu this week. Not a good feeling.

[Neuromancer]

LATEST

Yahoo!

SATURDAY, March 15

(HealthScoutNews) -- World Health Organization (news - web sites) officials issued an emergency global travel advisory Saturday and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) issued its own health alert as the number of nations hit by a mysterious respiratory illness continued to climb.

 The illness, now being called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and described as an "atypical pneumonia," has killed at least eight people, including an American businessman in Hong Kong and a mother and son in Toronto, Canada.

It has left most of the others, many of them hospital workers, with severe breathing difficulties, according to news reports. The latest case appears to involve a Singapore surgeon who was hospitalized in Germany Saturday after flying out of New York City.

The WHO advisory, sent to all airlines, warned that the illness, which apparently is impervious to antibiotics and antiviral drugs, was becoming "a worldwide health threat."

"Until we can get a grip on it, I don't see how it will slow down," WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. "People are not responding to antibiotics or antivirals; it's a highly contagious disease, and it's moving around by jet. It's bad."

The CDC moved into emergency mode to alert health authorities at state and local levels Saturday.
"The emergence of two clusters of this illness on the North American continent indicates the potential for travelers who have been in the affected areas of Southeast Asia to have been exposed to this serious syndrome," CDC director Dr. Julie L. Gerberding said in a statement issued in Atlanta. "Therefore, we are instituting measures aimed at identifying potential cases among travelers returning to the United States and protecting the people with whom they may come into contact."
Among other things, the agency is now investigating any illness among travelers who may have passed through the United States after having potential exposure to the virus. It is also preparing health alert cards to give to travelers returning from southeast Asia.

Cases of SARS have also been reported in mainland China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. WHO officials said the agency had received reports just in the last week of more than 150 suspected new cases.

In Germany, hospital officials would not release the condition of the surgeon, who was taken off a New York-to-Singapore flight during a stopover in Germany. He is being quarantined in a Frankfurt hospital. His wife and another doctor traveling with him also were hospitalized, the Associated Press reports.

The surgeon had treated one of the earliest cases in Singapore, and had then flown to a medical meeting in New York City, according to Thompson.

He may have gone to a hospital in New York the agency did not know which one before flying back via Frankfurt. Before boarding the flight, he called a colleague in Singapore to describe his symptoms, and the colleague notified WHO officials, The New York Times reports.

Another 155 passengers who deplaned in Frankfurt were being temporarily held in quarantine at the airport, WHO officials said. The 85 remaining passengers and the plane's 20-member crew continued on but were to be quarantined on their arrival in Singapore, health officials said.
In Canada, meanwhile, Toronto's municipal health agency announced Friday that Kwan Sui-chu had died on March 5 soon after returning from Hong Kong. Her son, Chi Kwai Tse, died on Thursday, and four other family members have been hospitalized, the agency said.
A spokeswoman for Toronto Public Health said the agency was aware of two other cases in Canada, both in Vancouver and involving people who had also traveled recently to Hong Kong.

The agency issued an appeal to Canadians to seek medical help if they had been in contact with the Kwan family and were experiencing such symptoms as the sudden onset of a high fever, muscle aches or other flu-like symptoms.
The one other reported fatality was that of the American businessman based in Shangai. The man, who has not yet been identified, died of the illness in Hong Kong on Thursday. But he apparently infected at least 37 hospital workers in Hanoi, where he had been treated before being moved to Hong Kong. Two of the patients were listed in serious condition, according to AP.
Hanoi has reported at least 42 cases of the illness, Hong Kong has 43, Singapore at least 16. Tapei reported three people hospitalized with flu-like symptoms. Guangdong province, which adjoins Hong Kong in China, reported 305 cases by mid-February, including five deaths.

A team of CDC epidemiologists arrived in Hanoi Saturday to gather samples and try to determine what's causing the outbreak. A separate team of French doctors was expected to bring medicine and respirators.
WHO officials urged all countries to help in the outbreaks. Scientists do not know whether SARS is a virus or even an infectious agent. As a result, they are focusing on the possibility that it is a previously unknown infectious agent.

The WHO travel advisory, while not calling for restrictions on travel, urged that travelers who may have come in contact with someone infected should watch for such symptoms as high fever, coughing and shortness of breath. People who suspect they may have the illness should seek medical attention and should not travel until they recover, the AP reported.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

You and me, buddy - Vegas bound. It'll be a great power trip

How come nobody else wants to go with us?

...being the Walkin' Dude's top minion ain't too bad - you get lots of chicks, and the respect is pretty cool....

[djf]

With people getting that sick that fast, it seems it should not be difficult to identify it.

[CathyRyan]

It will also burn itself out quickly.

[theFIRMbss]

>The CDC moved into emergency mode to alert health authorities at state and local levels Saturday.

Tonight, I had planned
to re-read "Congo," but now
I think I'll change plans...