Planning for swine flu.

[Dave A]

The DA is critical of the lack of response by government to the emerging threat of swine flu.

The South African government's "non-response" to the outbreak of swine flu was worrying, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.

"South Africa is a long physical distance from the outbreak, but it would take only one passenger arriving on a long-haul flight to let loose an outbreak here," said the party's health spokesperson and MP Mike Waters.

Many countries not affected had declared a health emergency, but South Africa's response has been "muted", besides some general and wikipedia links on the health department's website, he said.

Earlier, the Health Department said there were no cases in South Africa, but Waters believed South African authorities should form a committee of representatives from the departments of home affairs, health and transport, to develop a strategy to prevent swine flu from entering the country.
full story from M&G here

Government is one thing. But perhaps business should be looking at policies to deal with pandemics too.

For example, if someone comes to work with flu, should you send them home or be thankful that they came in to work?

[garthu]

Possibly a little unfair of the DA anyway. Like someone said they always on the high horse picking at things instead of moving forward. I do know there are several departments that are involved in measures should it arrive (whether they actually are remains to be seen). They also say that it is infectious with no symptoms like flu.

The only way to actually stop it then would be close the borders

[wynn]

Yeah close the borders, stop drinking 'Tequila' and stop eating 'Burritos'



Seriously, find out who has the vaccine near you.

[garthu]

STOP DRINKING TEQUILA!
Now this thread is getting out of hand!



For sure i reckon good advice, find out from our local doc the in's and outs

[Debbiedle]

STOP DRINKING TEQUILA!
Now this thread is getting out of hand!

Needed the laugh! tx Garth

Dave - send them home if you can, with or without the swine part of the flu - it is more expensive having the entire office wheezing, sneezing, complaining and feeling like dogs - especially if it is a sales office!

[Dave A]

I tend to try to encourage them to go home or see a doctor - and stay well clear of the rest of the staff (including me, thanks).

BTW - apparently there is no vaccine as yet.

[garthu]

BTW - apparently there is no vaccine as yet.

Drink tequila - old wives recipe cure for ALL all

There are now 2 suspected cases in SA. Matter of time i guess. Even talk of canceling the confed cup soccer if becomes out of hand!! Really drastic stuff.

This could really be some serious stuff... take my kids out of school if it starts spreading.... dunno, have to put thought into this...

[Yvonne]

Presently in Texas U.S.A.
Had friends stay over for a few days after their vacation in Mexico, Whew was it difficult not to be neurotic!
This flu has caused deaths in the teen to young adult group - not only the elderly, newborn, sick or frail!
Therefore cannot be treated for the normal annual "flu" health response planning!

Only time will tell whether borders should be closed, and given the deaths I do think that South Africa should take all precautions - however extreme they may appear right now, as with so many of our population being HIV Positive, it is insane not to, in my humble opinion.

Yvonne

[Frankincense]

Swine Flu???....nothing new...

YouTube - Congressman Paul on the Recent Swine Flu Scare

Me no take no vaccination...

http://www.whale.to/vaccine/sf1.html

I did a quick google search and the general accepted amount of people that die from 'regular' flu, each year, is around 250,000 world wide. That's about 685 people each day, across the world.

So why is this new strain getting so much air time and throwing WHO, etc, into doing live news broadcasts? I don't get it. Only 149 people dead in Mexico over a few days - if we say the first died last Friday then that's 5 days which is only equal to around 30 a day.

Normal flu kills 685 per day. This flu kills 30 per day. Hmmmm? The numbers just don't add up as to why this new strain is making all these headlines.

It does give the perfect excuse as to why those green shoots of a recovery might now vanish. They can now tell us how the bailouts were working but unfortunately this flu threw a huge spanner in the works. Not their fault that they wasted tax payer money because they didn't see this flu coming. Am I close?


Appril 28, 2009

Many people react with incredulity when the assertion is made that the so-called swine flu outbreak in Mexico may be manufactured crisis. And yet history is replete with examples of government using biological and chemical agents for political purpose.

As a primary example, consider the CIA’s secret war against Cuba and Fidel Castro.
featured stories Weaponizing Deadly Viruses: Historical Precedents
POD

The CIA used chemical agents and toxins then stockpiled at Fort Detrick against Cuba and Fidel Castro.


In 1975, the Church Committee revealed a CIA memorandum listing deadly chemical agents and toxins then stockpiled at Fort Detrick. “These included anthrax, encephalitis, tuberculosis, lethal snake venom, shellfish toxin, and half a dozen lethal food poisons, some of which, the committee learned, had been shipped in the early 1960s to Congo and to Cuba in unsuccessful CIA attempts to assassinate Patrice Lumumba and Fidel Castro,” write Ellen Ray and William H. Schaap (Bioterror: Manufacturing Wars the American Way, Ocean Press, 2003, p. vii).

Schaap cites the work of Dr. Marc Lappé (Chemical and Biological Warfare: The Science of Public Death, Student Research Facility for East Bay Women for Peace and Science Students for Social Responsibility, 1969), who claims that the U.S. Army had a biological warfare agent prepared for use against Cuba at the time of the Missile Crisis in 1962, mostly likely Q fever (Coxiella burnetii, a bacterium that affects both humans and animals). In 1977, a Washington Post report confirmed that during this time the CIA maintained an “anticrop warfare” program.

In regard to swine flu, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on January 10, 1977, that CIA “operatives linked to anti-Castro terrorists introduced African swine fever virus into Cuba in 1971.” The outbreak, the first time the disease hit the Western Hemisphere, was labeled the “most alarming event” of 1971 by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. Cuba reacted to outbreak by slaughtering 500,000 pigs. An intelligence source told the newspaper “that early in 1971 he was given the virus in a sealed, unmarked container at Ft. Gulick, an Army base in the Panama Canal Zone. The CIA also operates a paramilitary training center for career personnel and mercenaries at Ft. Gulick.” The source said he was given instructions to turn the container with the virus over to members of an anti-Castro group.


Look for item 4 at this site for a letter from Jane Burgermeister to the Director-General of WHO titled "Criminal Charges Over the 'Swine Flu' To Be Filed in Austria On Monday":

http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2009/RedFlagAlert.htm

Here's a post I titled "OH NO! BAXTER to Develop Swine Flu Vaccine!":

http://www.infowars.com/baxter-produ...ird-flu-virus/
Baxter: Product contained live bird flu virus
The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses.

And an official of the World Health Organization’s European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International’s research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/accidental-contamination-of-vaccine-with-live-avian-flu-virus-virtually-impossible.html

‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible

Czech newspapers are questioning if the shocking discovery of vaccines contaminated with the deadly avian flu virus which were distributed to 18 countries by the American company Baxter were part of a conspiracy to provoke a pandemic.

The claim holds weight because, according to the very laboratory protocols that are routine for vaccine makers, mixing a live virus biological weapon with vaccine material by accident is virtually impossible.

Are Baxter executives prepared to testify before Congress , under oath, that their corporation is not involved in biological warfare programs?

http://akagaga.blogspot.com/2009/03/baxter-bird-flu-contamination-plot.html

Can Baxter explain exactly how a Level 3 biological warfare pathogen found its way into H3N2 material, regardless whether or not this experimental vaccine material was 'intended' for eventual use in humans or not. Is the contaminated H5N1 strain genetically engineered? If so, by whom?... Are Baxter executives prepared to testify before Congress , under oath, that their corporation is not involved in biological warfare programs?

http://chicagoist.com/2009/04/27/swine_flu_frenzy_grows.php

What started as a buzz late last week has grown into full-on shrieking as this year's SARS has stepped up to the plate. With confirmed cases coming in from all over the country - including two in Kansas - the panic over the swine flu is rising. Which is fair enough: so far, 100 people are reported to have died in Mexico from the disease and it seems to be spreading fast. The threat of a pandemic even has the European Union urging cancellation of "nonessential travel" to North America.

Locally, the panic is also settling in. This morning on CBS 2's site, the main headline screamed, "Public Warned Swine Flu Coming To Chicago." And, indeed, with t

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/142835.php

Sanofi Aventis Invests 100 Million Euros In New Facility In Mexico To Produce Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Vaccine

Haemophiliacs launched a class action against Alpha Thera peutic, Armour, Aventis, Baxter and Bayer.

http://www.whale.to/b/blood23.html

Trailer: Factor 8 -- Baxter
www.youtube.com...

In 2003, Baxter introduced the first Factor VIII therapy

http://www.baxter.com/therapies/sub/hemophilia_therapy.html

Putting it all in context:

http://www.projectdaylily.com/

Excerpt from Nicolson's letter to Gary Wade:
YouTube - Movie Trailer for Factor 8:The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal

http://benjaminfulford.typepad.com/benjaminfulford/


...I know I know...you knew this...Cool....

[IanF]

Instead of reading what the news sites say read The WHO site they are monitoring this in a profeessional manner.
To quote

29 April 2009 -- The situation continues to evolve rapidly. As of 18:00 GMT, 29 April 2009, nine countries have officially reported 148 cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection. The United States Government has reported 91 laboratory confirmed human cases, with one death. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (13), Germany (3), Israel (2), New Zealand (3), Spain (4) and the United Kingdom (5).

Further information on the situation will be available on the WHO website on a regular basis.

WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders. It is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention, in line with guidance from national authorities.

There is also no risk of infection from this virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products. Individuals are advised to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water on a regular basis and should seek medical attention if they develop any symptoms of influenza-like illness.

[Dave A]

That's quite a contribution, Francois. Thanks

There is one aspect to this that might justify the current concern, however. People's lives.

Flu is known to be a "sloppy replicator," hence the continual arrival of new strains. Now mostly this is not too serious with "only" a small section of the populace being fatally vulnerable. But every now and then it produces something that is lethal to a much larger proportion of the population.

Now I wouldn't want to be the one going "They're crying wolf again" on the occassion it turns out to be the real monster.

I think it's worth keeping a close eye on developments.

[charles2]

horrible worldwide now.
I dare not to eat pork.
It is very serious in Mexio, wish people good luck there and less person will be
infected.

[Morticia]

Swine Flu



sorry, just couldn't resist........

[garthu]

LOL. Funny, when i sneezed yesterday, i looked around to see who was looking... suddenly very wary...

[Yvonne]

This should be in the joke section, but I am sure you will forgive me.

Americans said: Pigs would fly if Obama lasted 100 days, Well - Swine flu

Here in the US on Tv they are saying that the WHO is not giving the correct figures! and a professor from one of the prestigious universities agreed with that statement, he also said that this Swine Flu has already mutated three times so the potential of a vacination is not likely to be achieved as quickly as hoped!

Yvonne