Day 2:
"Third Death Reported in China From New Bird Flu Strain" by William Wan | Washington Post, April 04, 2013
BEIJING —The emergence in China of the H7N9 strain of avian flu are troubling because the strain has not previously been found in humans.
Even as two new cases were announced Wednesday, China’s state media sought to reassure the public that the chances of contracting H7N9 remain low....
Nothing so far, authorities stressed, suggests that the strain can be transmitted from one human to another.
The World Health Organization also urged calm this week but noted the importance of determining how the virus came to infect humans and whether it might spread.
These the same guys who said don't talk about the cholera in Haiti?
"The CDC, World Health Organization, and United Nations say it is not possible to pinpoint the source and investigating further would distract from efforts to fight the disease.... A spokesman for the World Health Organization said finding the cause of the outbreak is “not important right now.’’
Yeah, that's them. They the ones that brought it to Haiti (hmmmm).
Just one patient so far appeared to have had direct contact with poultry. Dozens of people who came into contact with each patient are being monitored, authorities said.
A different strain of bird flu, H5N1, that emerged in 2003 has killed more than 360 people, according to the WHO.
Local media described the latest fatality Wednesday as a 38-year-old chef in the eastern province of Zhejiang....
Going according to script!
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"China heightens bird flu response" by Andrew Jacobs | New York Times, April 06, 2013
BEIJING — With confirmation that a sixth person has died from a mysterious avian-borne virus, Chinese officials escalated their response Friday, advising people to avoid live poultry, dispatching virologists to chicken farms across the country, and slaughtering more than 20,000 birds at a wholesale market in Shanghai where the virus, known as H7N9, was detected in a pigeon.
Anxious residents have been buying up stocks of a traditional Chinese cold remedy and crowding emergency rooms at the first sign of respiratory problems. During a news conference in Shanghai on Friday, an official advised journalists to avoid sneezing on others. And at a KFC restaurant in Beijing, employees stood idle as mounds of fried chicken went largely unsold.
“They say it’s OK to eat cooked chicken, but I’d rather not take the chance,’’ Zhang Minyu, 41, said as she coaxed her young son to instead order a soft-serve ice cream.
I hope that wasn't dinner.
Roughly 10 years after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, began here and spread across the globe, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing nearly 800, the deadly influenza outbreak is testing a government known for its secrecy and reluctance to divulge damaging news.
All governments are the same.
Although some critics have questioned why it took so long for officials to publicly announce the outbreak of the H7N9, public health experts have commended the government for responsiveness and transparency in the five days since officials identified the first victims.
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"WHO talks with China on sending bird flu team" Associated Press, April 09, 2013
BEIJING — The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has sickened at least 24 people, killing seven of them.
A 64-year-old retired man in Shanghai became the latest victim of the H7N9 bird flu virus that had previously not been known to infect humans, the city government said Monday.
Hmmmm.
The Shanghai government said the man died Sunday night, a week after first experiencing chills. He sought medical treatment last Wednesday for pneumonia-like conditions. By Sunday morning, his condition worsened. He was out of breath and was admitted to a ward for in-patient treatment. He died hours later.
Michael O’Leary, head of WHO’s office in China, told reporters in Beijing on Monday that the international health organization had confidence in China’s efforts to track and control the outbreak of H7N9 infections, but that growing interest in the virus globally has prompted WHO to consider sending a team.
The cases are of ‘‘great interest, not only in the scientific community but in the world at large,’’ O’Leary said at a joint news conference with China’s national health agency....
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Day 14:
"China praised for bird flu response; Openness offers stark contrast to SARS outbreak" by Gillian Wong | Associated Press, April 12, 2013
SHANGHAI — After a new and lethal strain of bird flu emerged in Shanghai two weeks ago, the government of China’s bustling financial capital responded with live updates on a Twitter-like microblog. It’s a starkly different approach than a decade ago, when Chinese officials silenced reporting as a deadly pneumonia later known as SARS killed dozens in the south.
The contrast shows a new, though still evolving, openness in China following the SARS debacle, which devastated the government’s credibility at home and abroad. It also reflects the demands of a more prosperous and educated citizenry for information and its use of social media to get it.
‘‘Publicize information to prevent ‘bird flu panic,’ ’’ read the headline of a recent front-page commentary in the People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s newspaper, that urged government departments to release information quickly about an outbreak that has killed 10 and sickened 28 others....
Though some microbloggers and media are questioning why it took a couple of weeks after the first deaths for authorities to announce the new strain of bird flu, international health experts have broadly praised China’s response. The government has said that it takes time for scientists to identify the virus and that such a finding had to be put through several layers of verification before being announced.
The new openness is thanks in part to people like Li Tiantian, founder of Dingxiangyuan, an online medical network popular with Chinese health care workers. His microblog is among a number of sites that have been tracking the government’s response to the new bird flu. ‘‘It’s evident that the strength of social media can pressure the government to be more open, more transparent,’’ he said from his base in the eastern city of Hangzhou.
Americans are finding that out with the Boston Marathon Bombing. By recognizing the false flag we have forced the government to revise and delay its cover story.
Li remembers a time 10 years ago when state media were the public’s only source of information.
There was once a day like that in AmeriKa -- before the Internet.
As rumors swirled that a mysterious pneumonia was killing people in Beijing, Li, then a postgraduate student, dismissed the fears as overblown because he saw footage on state television of seemingly carefree foreign tourists arriving in the country’s capital.
It took months for Chinese authorities to start acknowledging the true scale of SARS — but by then it was too late to stop it from spreading worldwide and killing hundreds.
SARS is much deadlier than bird flu, with an ability to spread from person to person that the bird flu virus generally lacks.
Since China reported the first human infections of the new bird flu virus, known as H7N9, on March 31, authorities have had to compete with the online rumor mill. They have also responded to demands spread through microblogs.
Related: American flu: Chinese colonel says bird flu is really U.S. biological weapon
I wouldn't doubt it. You need to think of these things like a war-planner would. Aside from trying to use Korea to make war on China, how would you destabilize China? You might get the Tibetans to act up (known CIA assets since the 1950s); maybe activate "Al-CIA-Duh" Uighurs; cause an earthquake to tie up Chinese resources; or let loose a flu that will keep them busy. After all we have seen the last decade do you doubt they are incapable of such things?
Or maybe it is all just another $wine flu $windle. We $eem to get those every couple of years.
After some urged an investigation into a potential link to thousands of pig carcasses found floating in a river, agricultural officials said they tested carcass samples and did not find any bird viruses. When others said authorities should help pay the medical bills of those affected, health officials said hospitals were not allowed to turn away patients who could not afford treatment.
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Related:
"A World Health Organization official said Sunday that it wasn’t surprising that the virus had spread to Beijing."
China bird flu case puzzles experts
Already saying it many people infected do not get seriously ill and recover quickly, making the virus is less deadly than it appears and the strain was not previously known to infect humans before cases turned up in China this winter. Looking more like a biological release with each passing day.
Day 1:
Cleaning workers retrieved the carcasses of pigs from a branch of the Huangpu River in Shanghai on March 10.
My problem with the damn movie is it s***s on bloggers. One famous line I'll always remember:
"Sun Feng: They say the French and Americans have the cure. They're manufacturing it in secret. WHO knows, they're in bed with the Americans.
Dr. Leonora Orantes: Who says?
Sun Feng: The internet.
Dr. Leonora Orantes: The internet? You believe it?"
The film was basically a promotion piece for the heroic authorities. You would expect something different from Hollywood? UPDATE: China moves to head off spread of bird flu
Related: Baby born with HIV apparently cured, say scientists
I thought they had one when Magic Johnson didn't die.
"UK sees 10th mysterious virus case" Associated Press, February 12, 2013
LONDON — British officials have found the world’s 10th known case of a new coronavirus, a mysterious disease related to SARS and first identified last year.
The patient, a UK resident who had been in the Middle East and Pakistan, is in the intensive care unit of a Manchester hospital, according to a statement Monday from Britain’s Health Protection Agency.
Coronaviruses are behind ailments including the common cold and SARS, which killed about 800 people in a global epidemic in 2003.
About time for another one, and who knows? Maybe the genocidal, globalist End Game has begun. With the private central Ponzi banking scheme collapsing, an angry, aroused, and finally aware global populace, and the inability to get WWIII going in a meaningful way, maybe it's time to cull the herd, kill off the rabble, and get rid of the useless eaters.
In past cases, patients with the new coronavirus had symptoms including acute breathing problems and kidney failure.
There is no proof the virus spreads easily among humans, but experts suspect humans can catch it from animals such as bats or camels.
You been playing in their shit with an open sore lately, readers?
All the previous cases have had links to the Middle East, but last year the World Health Organization said the virus was probably more widespread.
Hmph.
It recommended countries test anyone with unexplained pneumonia for the virus.
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"SARS-like virus infects another" by Maria Cheng | Associated Press, February 14, 2013
LONDON — British officials say a mysterious virus related to SARS may have spread between humans, as they confirmed the 11th case worldwide of the new coronavirus in a patient who they say probably caught it from a family member.
The new virus was identified last year in the Middle East and the 10 people who have previously been infected had all traveled to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, or Pakistan.
Why am I no thinking an Israeli release?
According to Britain’s Health Protection Agency, the latest patient is a U.K. resident with no recent travel to any of those countries but who had close personal contact with an earlier case. The patient may also have been at greater risk of infection because of an underlying medical condition and is currently in intensive care at a Birmingham hospital.
‘‘Although this case provides strong evidence for person-to-person transmission, the risk of infection in most circumstances is still considered to be very low,’’ John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the Health Protection Agency, said in a statement....
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I'm not feeling so good:
"Stomach bug sweeping globe" by Mike Atobbe | Associated Press, January 25, 2013
NEW YORK — A new strain of stomach bug sweeping the globe is taking over in the United States, officials say.
Since September, more than 140 outbreaks across the country have been caused by the new Sydney strain of norovirus. It may not be unusually dangerous, but it is different, and many people might not be able to fight off its gut-wrenching effects.
The hallmarks of a lab creation.
The new strain is making people sick in Japan, Western Europe, and other parts of the world. It was first identified last year in Australia and called the Sydney strain.
In the United States, it is now accounting for about 60 percent of norovirus outbreaks, according to report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Norovirus is highly contagious and often spreads in places like schools, cruise ships, and nursing homes, especially during the winter.
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Also see:
Flu outbreak hitting Mass. early and hard
Governor Cuomo declares flu emergency in New York
Flu is widespread across Vt., N.H., Maine
Well, it was cold and flu season.
Boston declares a flu emergency
Close quarters send a shudder in flu season
Medical offices in area flooded with requests for flu vaccines
"Some decide against getting a flu shot" by Beth Teitell | Globe Staff, January 12, 2013
I never get one, and the people I know who do get sick.
Never mind that Mayor Thomas M. Menino has declared a public health emergency, sending out some 45,000 robo calls practically begging residents to roll up their sleeves. Or that the threat of infection is so severe that hospitals are restricting visitors. Or that the director of Boston’s Infectious Disease Bureau considers a flu shot “the best protection we have.”
Gotta find someway to empty those vials and refill the $tock.
Related: A $7 Billion Dollar Shot in the Arm
That would make me get going.
Many Bostonians think they know better....
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months and older get a flu shot, but it turns out that the majority of us don’t bother....
Who doe$ the CDC work for?
There are many reasons. There’s the common misconception that a flu shot gives you the flu, a myth that may come from the fact that the shot takes about two weeks to work, so even if you do get one, influenza enjoys a grace period, said Nick Martin, a spokesman for the Public Health Commission.
When the agenda-pushing ma$$ media calls something a myth you can almost count it as God's truth.
Furthermore, the vaccine was found to be effective only 55 percent of the time against the dominant flu strain in the state, H3N2, according to testing conducted by the CDC and released Friday.
Next justification? Even though an average case of flu can sideline a person for three to five days, many say they are just too busy to take 10 minutes out of their daily routine to get vaccinated....
I might have had a touch of it then, because I was down for a couple of days earlier this year.
Others believe they’re safe without the shot — safer, in fact.
With all the additives to the vaccines, yeah.
“Every person I know who gets the shot, gets the flu,” said Nate Wall, 31, a service technician from Wakefield....
Indeed, those who don’t get a flu shot and then contract the flu feel they have only themselves to blame, layering guilt on top of the fever, chills, and coughing, and sometimes leaving care-givers less than sympathetic.
I usually blame someone else, usually someone I know that is sick. You gave it to me!
“All I had to do was walk down to CVS during my lunch break and get the shot,” said a self-flagellating Nicole Russo, a publicist with 451 Marketing in Boston. Russo was speaking by phone from her bed, on her fourth of day of feeling lousy. She was suffering from a double whammy of sorts. Earlier in the week she had too much work to stay home, but her obvious illness made her a pariah to colleagues....
With weeks and weeks to go until flu season ends, there’s no shortage of experts urging people to get inoculated. But some would rather crowd source the decision on social media sites, putting their health in the hands of random “friends” — a former realtor, perhaps, or a third-grade classmate.
In Cambridge, Erica Chilson, 41, an actress and a cake decorator, has not gotten a flu shot yet, and earlier this past week she polled her 350 Facebook friends: “I’m a healthy woman. I like to take the natural approach.”
But others fall back on simple fatalism to explain themselves....
I'm already feeling ill; do I really need the elite insults?
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Related: 2 more flu deaths logged in Boston
Just in case you didn't get the point.
Hundreds flock to clinics for flu shots
Boston’s lower-income areas bear brunt of flu
Boston-area colleges bracing for students’ return
Thousands line up to get flu vaccine in Boston
Flu cases dip for 2d week in Massachusetts
"Flu onslaught may be fading, US officials say" by Mike Stobbe | Associated Press, February 09, 2013
NEW YORK — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.
The number of states reporting intense or widespread flu dropped again last week, US health officials said Friday.
The season started earlier than normal, spiking first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths have been dropping for two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
‘‘It’s likely that the worst of the current flu season is over,’’ CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said in an e-mail.
It’s been nine years since a conventional flu season started like this one. That was the winter of 2003-04 — one of the deadliest in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths. Like this year, that season had the same dominant flu strain, one that tends to make people sicker.
The same years as SARS. Hmmmmm.
But back then, the flu vaccine did not protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated each year, and the CDC has said this year’s vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed this year’s version is about 60 percent effective.
I was told 55 above, and that doesn't seem like a good success rate to me.
So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.
The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 such deaths in children.
If you won't take a $hot maybe your child will.
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"A longer-lasting , more effective flu vaccine could be developed within a decade" by Deborah Kotz | Globe Staff, January 23, 2013
The vaccines in use today are only about 60 percent effective, last for only a single flu season, and take months to produce — which left Americans initially unprotected in 2009 when the swine flu pandemic arose without much warning.
Incremental progress has been made: Next year, two firms will for the first time produce a quadrivalent vaccine, which contains four strains rather than the three in current vaccines. And the Food and Drug Administration last week approved the first gene-based flu vaccine, which uses DNA technologies to produce mass quantities of the virus in insect cells instead of chicken eggs.
I hope that doesn't get out of control with unintended consequences.
While that will enable faster manufacturing and make more vaccine available to those with egg allergies, it may not increase the effectiveness.
More vaccine means more money for pharmaceuticals.
“From the standard of protection, there’s nothing new here,” said Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy....
And yet I get a big article with lots of print.
Developing such a vaccine and testing it will require millions in research funding that’s currently lacking....
Where do think they are going to get that money, taxpayers?
One of the biggest hurdles rests in the flu virus’s transformational skills. The virus’s DNA mutates constantly, leading to new strains. Flu vaccines are designed to get the body to produce an immune response only to specific strains, and that immune response usually lasts less than a year or two.
In 2009, researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and elsewhere determined a major reason flu viruses continuously outwitted the body’s immune defenses . The virus has a lollipop-shaped protein, called hemagglutinin, that serves as a key to enter healthy cells and create more flu viruses. The head of the lollipop evolves rapidly and differs from strain to strain.
Don't lick the lollypop.
While traditional vaccines target and destroy the head of the lollipop, a universal vaccine could be designed to work against multiple strains if it aimed for the lollipop’s stem, which tends not to change.
Such a vaccine would also have the potential to be more potent — though it would undoubtedly be more expensive than the yearly flu shot.
Did you see that?
“This finding was the eureka moment,” said Dr. Wayne Marasco, an immunologist at Dana-Farber who coauthored the paper on the research and is developing a broader-acting vaccine....
Researchers have recently begun testing some universal vaccines in small human trials to see whether any are safe enough to test for effectiveness.
“This is an optimistic period in the field of universal flu vaccines,” said Dr. Gary Nabel, chief scientific officer at the Cambridge office of Sanofi, which makes flu vaccines. That company has been testing several vaccine components.
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"TB vaccine fails on infants, study says" Associated Press, February 05, 2013
LONDON — The world’s most advanced tuberculosis vaccine failed to protect babies against the infectious disease, according to a new study in South Africa....
Hmmmmmmmmmmm!
Though the new MVA85A vaccine appeared safe, scientists found no proof it prevented tuberculosis, an airborne disease that kills more than 1 million people worldwide every year....
At least someone got paid!
Some health officials were discouraged by the results. ‘‘It’s pretty disappointing,’’ said Dr. Jennifer Cohn, a medical coordinator at Doctors Without Borders, who was not part of the study. ‘‘Infants are at really high risk of TB but this doesn’t seem to offer them any protection.’’
MVA85A was developed at Oxford University.
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Related: Study highlights challenge of flu-like virus in children
Thank Big Pharma for the flu fighters, 'eh, kids?
Also see: US warns flu remedy firm on claims
UPDATE: Why our flu vaccines can’t keep up
Yeah, whatever, Boston Globe. You can read the cover story crap for yourselves, readers.
