CDC says too late to contain U.S. flu outbreak

Reuters ^ | 4/24/09

[Crazieman]

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday it was too late to contain the swine flu outbreak in the United States.

CDC acting director Dr. Richard Besser told reporters in a telephone briefing it was likely too late to try to contain the outbreak, by vaccinating, treating or isolating people.

"There are things that we see that suggest that containment is not very likely," he said.

He said the U.S. cases and Mexican cases are likely the same virus. "So far the genetic elements that we have looked at are the same." But Besser said it was unclear why the virus was causing so many deaths in deaths in Mexico and such mild disease in the United States.

[livius]

Maybe Obama is the vector? (Just kidding!)

[justsaynomore]

I’m only saying that this particular combination is unusual. If I were in charge, I’d would be taking those possibilities into consideration.

The other thing that has me wondering is that the cases in Mexico seem worse than the US. I think it’s possible - if a virus is “planted” the people first exposed could be sickest, then the people that caught it secondary, not so much. But I don’t know that for a fact, info is still coming in.

Then, of course, you have those terrorist warnings not too long ago. China is providing the Taliban with weapons.

This is all just speculation, just things that make me go hmmmm. But I dont’ normally do a tinfoil thing, so I don’t want to dwell on this. The main thing now should be containing this thing. Prayers for those affected.

[livius]

I read that the 2 first cases in the US were children in two different counties near San Diego who became ill on March 28 and 30. I wonder when people started becoming ill in Mexico. It wasn’t publicly reported in Mexico until very recently, although it had probably actually started earlier, of course, since it takes awhile to notice a pattern and do the analysis.

[o2bfree]

>> The viruses so far characterized have been sensitive to oseltamivir, but resistant to both amantadine and rimantadine

OK, then it responds to Tamiflu (oseltamivir). So now I’m wondering what’s the best way to get my hands on it ... need to think this one through.

[Cacique]

Time to go to an isolated island with supplies for twenty years and don’t get off it till the last human dies.

[TornadoAlley3]

An emergency committee of the WHO in Geneva will declare the outbreak “a public health event of international concern” in a teleconference that began at 4 p.m. today, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting is confidential. In response, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan may raise the level of pandemic alert, which could lead to travel advisories aimed at curbing the disease’s spread.

The emergency committee will consider whether to declare the outbreak a matter of international concern, and whether to recommend travel advisories, Chan told journalists before the panel’s meeting.

[TornadoAlley3]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/25/content_11257468.htm

Hong Kong

[TornadoAlley3]

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/129055206

Dallas, Texas

[PghBaldy]

Mexico flu: Your experiences

Readers in Mexico have been emailing the BBC describing the sense of fear gripping the country as a result of a flu virus outbreak, which has so far claimed up to 60 lives. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/8018428.stm

[cajungirl]

LOL,,I am not into Satanic thinking myself.

But there is a heightened fear or something abounding if you ask me.

[ICCtheWay]

Both my mother and father lived through the 1918 World Wide Flu Epidemic. I do not know whether they had the actual flu or not - or were just naturally immune to it from their own genetic inheritance.

I have had the flu many times over my life... the Hong Kong flu in 1968 was very severe - I recall being extremely sick. I also had other flus in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s - plus probably had Nile Fever in 2003.

But - I survived and I am probably better off immunologically than if I had not had the many cases of the flu.

Immunity is a complicated factor (to make an understatement) ... Those people today who have natural immunity to HIV/AIDS are mostly descendants of Europeans who survived the Bubonic Plague (Black Death). The survival gene ‘Delta 32’ is quite a story.

[TornadoAlley3]

Tokyo - Japan began checking temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico Saturday after a swine influenza outbreak killed more than 60 people in Mexico and infected at least eight in the United States. The Japanese government on Saturday began tightening health checks on travellers entering the country through Narita and Kansai airports directly from Mexico or via the United States.

[cajungirl]

I loved that book on influenza..it was superb and great reading.

[maica]

The Great Influenza (The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History)

****

I highly recommend this book as an excellent explanation of the reasons why the 1918 epidemic was so deadly.

Not only was it a new strain, but medical knowledge was inadequate, and political decisions interfered because of the call-up of troops for WWI.

[AuntB]

“Tokyo - Japan began checking temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico Saturday after a swine influenza outbreak killed more than 60 people in Mexico and infected at least eight in the United States. The Japanese government on Saturday began tightening health checks on travellers entering the country through Narita and Kansai airports directly from Mexico or via the United States.”

That’s what happens when a country actually has an immigration policy that is enforced. We have NO idea what or who is coming into this country and our ‘leaders’ don’t care if they can get some votes/cheap labor.

[justsaynomore]

Reader’s comments from www.bbc.co.uk/news
(No dates or times on comments but taken from site at 4.40pm BST)

I work as a resident doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Mexico City and sadly, the situation is far from “under control”. As a doctor, I realise that the media does not report the truth. Authorities distributed vaccines among all the medical personnel with no results, because two of my partners who worked in this hospital (interns) were killed by this new virus in less than six days even though they were vaccinated as all of us were. The official number of deaths is 20, nevertheless, the true number of victims are more than 200. I understand that we must avoid to panic, but telling the truth it might be better now to prevent and avoid more deaths.

Yeny Gregorio Dávila, Mexico City

[PghBaldy]

Minister: WHO rejects closure of Mexican border despite swine flu outbreak http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/25/content_11254538.htm

[TornadoAlley3]

NOTE: these reports do NOT mention swine flu.

http://www.wesh.com/news/19272948/detail.html

Florida

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1539865

Canada

[dbrew2u]

So...even with the threat of a deadly virus that could possibly kill and sicken thousands of Americans. They still will not close the borders ?

[TornadoAlley3]

That was yesterday, they are meeting again today and may close it, we will see.