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In an earlier article, (Vanity) Mark Twain, and Pandemic Flu, or, Mongolian Flustered Cluck, I considered the current swine flu episode, and looked at its effects on various institutions, and how difficult it was for the lay person to follow what was going on amidst all the Flustered Clucking among government agencies, the blogosphere, and others. In a follow-up article, I consider some of the practical ramifications of such confusion, with thoughts on operations research, ecosystem modeling, and humor columnist Dave Barry thrown in. By the way, thanks to member of Free Republic Smokin' Joe for his comment on my...

Published: May 3 2009 14:08 | Last updated: May 3 2009 17:42 The head of the World Health Organisation hit back at critics who have accused it of over-reaction to the swine flu crisis, warning it may return “with a vengeance” in the months ahead. In her first extensive media interview since alerting the world to a potential flu pandemic nine days ago, Margaret Chan, the agency’s director-general, told the Financial Times that the end of the flu season in the northern hemisphere meant an initial outbreak could be milder but then a second wave more lethal, as happened in...

Seal Beach Daily 10:24 pm | May 02, 2009 CA confirms CSULB flu case is H1N1 From the Contra Costa Times: "The State of California today confirmed that the one probable case of swine flu identified earlier this week in a student at California State University, Long Beach has been diagnosed as swine flu (H1N1). This confirmation was provided by the State’s Public Health Laboratory, and is the first confirmed case of swine flu in Long Beach." Read more at contracostatimes.com KABC Channel 7 News and Associated Press 1st confirmed swine flu case in LA County Saturday, May 02,...

ATLANTA – The swine flu virus that has frightened the world is beginning to look a little less ominous. New York City officials reported Friday that the swine flu still has not spread beyond a few schools. In Mexico, very few relatives of flu victims seem to have caught the virus. One flu expert says there's no reason to believe the new virus is a more serious strain than seasonal flu. And a federal health official said the new flu virus doesn't appear to have genes that made the 1918 pandemic flu strain so deadly. ...

Swine flu will carry the name "pandemic" even if the new virus turns out to cause mainly mild symptoms as it sweeps the world, raising questions about how serious the global alert actually is. Although it has been deadly in the disease epicenter, Mexico, and caused the death of one Mexican infant in the United States, in other countries people infected with swine flu have fared well, with diarrhea the biggest complaint. The World Health Organization is expected to move quickly to designate a full pandemic -- at level 6 of its 6-point scale -- within days to reflect the...

The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday it has not told agents at U.S. airports and border checkpoints that they cannot wear masks to protect from exposure to swine flu. "The Department of Homeland Security has not issued an order saying our employees cannot wear masks. The health of our employees is of utmost importance to us. And today we are issuing department-wide guidance to our workforce," DHS spokeswoman Sara Kuban told FOX News. Kuban was responding to a claim made Thursday that The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security issued a guideline banning...

MANHATTAN -- In 1918 a human influenza virus known as the Spanish flu spread through the central United States while a swine respiratory disease occurred concurrently. A Kansas State University researcher has found that the virus causing the pandemic was able to infect and replicate in pigs, but did not kill them, unlike in other mammalian hosts like monkeys, mice and ferrets where the infection has been lethal. Juergen A. Richt, Regents Distinguished Professor of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine, studied the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic with colleagues from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, U.S....

Mass. Senate approves pandemic flu prep bill By Associated Press | Tuesday, April 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Politics The Massachusetts Senate has unanimously passed a pandemic flu preparation bill that has languished in the Legislature before the recent swine flu outbreak. The 36-0 vote today sends the measure to the House. Both branches have taken it up in past years, but have not been able to agree on the details. The new Senate version would allow the public health commissioner — in a public health emergency — to close or evacuate buildings, enter private property for investigations, and...

Now, let me get this straight. Several hundred people get the flu in Mexico and 150 Mexican nationals die, now lowered to seven. A few Americans get the flu, 91 people at last count, but no one dies. A Mexican toddler did die in Houston, but had undisclosed other "underlying health issues." Even before this number reportedly died US Pravda, otherwise known as CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, etc., hyped the "flu pandemic" story up to astronomical levels. Here we go again! The sky is falling, the sky is falling! BE SCARED! TERROR, TERROR! CRISIS! BE AFRAID! ... Does anyone buy...

A San Jose high school was closed for a week today after a student attended classes while sick with what public health officials have confirmed is the swine flu. Branham High School became the second Bay Area school to be closed because of the swine flu scare. Highlands Elementary School in Pittsburg [was the first] "The school closure is to help prevent the spread of illness," So far, she said, 13 students have had flulike symptoms. A letter was sent from the health department to parents warning them that their children "may have been exposed to swine flu" on April...

As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked to swine flu inside U.S. borders, scientists studying the virus are coming to the consensus that this hybrid strain of influenza -- at least in its current form -- isn't shaping up to be as fatal as the strains that caused some previous pandemics. In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter...

"MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The 39-year-old woman who was the first to die in Mexico's swine flu epidemic spent the last eight days of her life going from clinic to clinic to find out what was wrong with her but doctors were baffled. The woman, from the southern state of Oaxaca, died shortly after being admitted to hospital as an emergency case. Experts only identified the virus that killed her 10 days later. The swine flu outbreak has killed as many as 159 people in Mexico, and forced the World Health Organization on Wednesday to warn that a global flu...

President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged parents to prepare for the possibility that their children's schools could be closed temporarily if swine flu cases spread to them. Speaking at the White House, Obama said he wants Americans to know the government is doing "whatever is necessary" to contain the emerging health threat, which was officially blamed for a U.S. death for the first time Wednesday. Obama said his thoughts and prayers were with the family of the 23-month-old child in Texas who became the nation's first reported swine flu death. The president's remarks came at an event welcoming Sen. Arlen...

From Egypt's order that all 300,000 pigs in the country be slaughtered to travel bans and putting the kibosh on kissing, the world is taking drastic — and some say debatable — measures to combat swine flu. Egypt ordered the pig slaughter even though there hasn't been a single case of swine flu there and no evidence that pigs have spread the disease. Britain, with only five cases, is trying to buy 32 million masks. And in the United States, President Barack Obama said more of the country's 132,000 schools may have to be shuttered. At airports from Japan to...

MEXICO CITY/GENEVA, April 30 (Reuters) - Mexico's president told citizens to stay home from Friday for a five-day partial shutdown of the economy, after the World Health Organisation raised its alert level and said a swine flu pandemic was imminent. In his first televised address since the crisis erupted last week, President Felipe Calderon told Mexicans to stay home with their families. The country will suspend non-essential work and services, including some government ministries, from May 1-5. "There is no safer place than your own home to avoid being infected with the flu virus," Calderon said.

@BreakingNews: BULLETIN -- WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENT IN 20 MINUTES; EXPECTED TO DECLARE PANDEMIC EMERGENCY.

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu. At a news briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to repeatedly refer to the flu as the "H1N1 virus." "This is not a food-borne illness, virus. It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that's not what this is about," Vilsack said. Israel has already rejected the name swine...

"MSNBC News Live" anchor Contessa Brewer on Tuesday speculated as to whether supposed obstructionism by congressional Republicans may end up hampering the response to the swine flu outbreak.

Israeli Health Minister Yakov Litzman has been updating a nervous public on the swine flu epidemic - and he started by renaming it for religious reasons. "We will call it Mexican flu. We won't call it swine flu," said Mr Litzman, who belongs to the ultra-religious United Torah Judaism party.

DHS Chair Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to avoid using "swine flu" or "pig flu" today, opting instead to call the virus by its given name "Obama's Flu"...er, H1N1. Look. I don't care what they call it, but let's fix the problem before it becomes a worldwide pandemic! You can put lipstick on a swine, but it's still killing people! Overseas Immunodeficiency Operation? What is it with these people? U.S. officials want 'swine' out of flu name What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is...