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CDC: US begins border monitoring for swine flu

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
CDC: US begins border monitoring for swine flu
Associated Press
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer - Mon Apr 27, 5:51 AM PDT

WASHINGTON - Amid surging worries about a global pandemic, the United States launched border screening for swine flu exposure Monday and a top federal health official said people should brace for more severe cases, "and possibly deaths."

Richard Besser, acting head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed that American authorities were undertaking "passive screening" at its borders and reiterated the Obama administration's call for people to remain calm. Besser said that U.S. officials at border checkpoints were "asking people about fever and illness, looking for people who are ill."

Besser discussed the problem on morning news shows as President Barack Obama prepared to address it later Monday morning in remarks to a meeting of the nation's top scientists.

The U.S. declared a national health emergency Sunday in the midst of uncertainty about whether a mounting sick count really meant ongoing infections — or just that health officials had missed something simmering for weeks or months. But the declaration did allow Washington to ship roughly 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications from a federal stockpile to states in case they eventually need them.

http://health.yahoo.com/news/ap/med_swine_flu.html
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
US 'very concerned' about swine flu outbreak
Apr 24 09:32 AM US/Eastern
US medical authorities expressed strong concern Friday about an unprecedented multi-strain swine flu outbreak that has killed at least 60 people in Mexico and infected seven people in the United States.

"It's very obvious that we are very concerned. We've stood up emergency operation centers," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesman Dave Daigle told AFP.

One major source of concern was that the virus included strains from different types of flu.

"This is the first time that we've seen an avian strain, two swine strains and a human strain," said Daigle, adding that the virus had influenza strains from European and Asian swine, but not from North American swine.

In 11 of 12 reported human cases of swine influenza (H1N1) virus infection in the United States from December 2005 to February 2009, the CDC has documented direct or indirect contact with swine.

But the seven known cases of the previously undetected strain in the United States -- five from California and two from Texas -- did not have contact with pigs. The seven people infected have all recovered from the flu.

"We have determined that this virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human," the CDC said on its website. "However, at this time, we have not determined how easily the virus spreads between people."

Local and state health officials were interviewing not just the people who were infected but the people with whom they had contact, Daigle noted.

Officials were looking for the source of the infection, Daigle said, adding that US health officials were due to receive samples from Mexico that would be tested at a lab at the centers based in Atlanta, Georgia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified swine influenza as a potential source of a human flu pandemic. Pandemics usually occur every 20 years.

"Our experts and others are saying are not saying it's not a matter of whether but when. And we are past due," said Daigle.

Swine flu is caused by type A influenza and does not normally infect humans but cases have been reported among people, especially those exposed to pigs, the CDC said. Most outbreaks take place during the late fall and winter months.

Swine flu symptoms include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people who have contracted the virus have also reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the CDC.

Human outbreaks of H1N1 swine influenza virus were recorded in the United States in 1976 and 1988, when two deaths were reported, and in 1986. In 1988, a pregnant woman died after contact with sick pigs, the WHO said.

In recent years, the global focus for a pandemic has shifted to the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has spread from poultry to humans, especially in Asia.

http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=CNG.424c5b4c93103272a5d7bbabb402fdea.c1&show_article=1
 

Mike

Well-known member
TexasBred said:
Is this swine flu related to the 'Porkulus" bill?? Both seem to be deadly infections.

Dems are immune to these type of "Pork" infections. Their resistance is high from the constant exposure of those feeding from the Gov't trough.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
TexasBred said:
Is this swine flu related to the 'Porkulus" bill?? Both seem to be deadly infections.

Well, if it wasn't, it is now.

Obama's using it to point out that additional spending on science, is the answer! But no proof that the US was "falling behind" was given!

"If there was ever a day that reminded us of our shared stake in science and research, it's today," Obama said in a speech to the National Academy of Sciences, a society of scientists and engineers who give advice to U.S. policymakers.

"Our capacity to deal with a public health challenge of this sort rests heavily on the work of our scientific and medical community," Obama said. "And this is one more example of why we cannot allow our nation to fall behind."

Obama said that U.S. cases of swine flu were "not a cause for alarm" but the administration was monitoring them closely.
 
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