[SE Mom]

Am I to understand this MAY be a combination of swine and avian flu? I’m not up on these various strains- but I don’t remember learning about a combination type. Odd.

Thanks for passing on your conversation.

[Truth29]

Cue the movie “Twelve Monkeys.”

[Perdogg]

ping

[Travis McGee]

Uh oh.

[FreedomFighter1013]

Here’s more from AP via Seattle Post Intelligencer: http://www.seattlepi.com/health/1500ap_med_swine_flu.html?source=rss

The worrisome new virus - which combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before - also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths in the U.S.

“We are very, very concerned,” World Health Organization spokesman Thomas Abraham said. “We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human ... It’s all hands on deck at the moment.”

[DogBarkTree]

Interesting perspective but it looks like there is only a 2% mortality rate so far. I would think a bio terrorist bug would kill more people. Unless of course this is just a test run.

[silverleaf]

engineered

unless there is a plausible reason for it to appear in 4 different parts in Mexico among people with no known risk factors for exposure to combined livestock, and that it kills adults in prime age (such as military men)

or a lab screw up in testing a vaccine that was intended to protect against combined strains and had a live strain in it
?? live bird flu was “accidentally” sent out in a test vaccine by a lab in Austria this winter

The quickness of CDC to jump on this suggest incompetent alarmists at CDC or foreknowledge of a time bomb waiting to go off

[kittymyrib]

This does look like a man-made pathogen...perhaps destined for our southern border?
Our crack DHS Sec. will probably be on CNN soon telling us there is absolutely no link to terrorists, and that will make everyone feel safe.

[HospiceNurse]

It is a VERY unlikely bio-weapon because, as the article says, “[IT is] susceptible to oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

Lots of flu is resistant. If you wanted to kill people, the LAST thing you would do is engineer a strain susceptible to tamiflu.

[newfreep]

I'm so glad we've closed the mexican borders. Wait...what's that you say? The borders remain open? Well, nevermind.

[WestCoastGal]

bump and ping

RR I’m off to work, keep me posted. I have a co-worker who has been rally sick like down in the bed all week. Scary!!

[MarkL]

The last thing that the Obama administration would ever allow would be the announcement that while the Bush Administration managed to stop numerous terrorist attacks on US soil, as well as foreign interests for nearly 8 years, the US was hit by a biological weapons attack withing Obama's first 100 days in office, especially after Obama announced all those policy changes to make the US more "terrorist friendly."

No, the only way that the admininstration will allow the words "biological terrorist attack" to be used would be if they can squarely rest the blame on the Bush administration.

Mark

[Allegra]

Captain Trips...

[truthandlife]

And you have what kind of proof?? Nothing.

[bgill]

Didn’t know about the specific types, but yes, the possibility of bio terrorism was discussed here last night. Disperse it in Mexico or Central America where it won’t be detected too quickly. Let it spread there knowing that it would soon be brought across the border in no time. Spring being the perfect season with Americans going down to Mexico for Spring Break and vactions and illegals coming north for the planting season. We’ve already had confirmed cases in CA, AZ and TX and it’s in Canada. Yesterday, up in Queens, a private school had 75 students being tested.

[FreedomFighter1013]

Update: doctor friend also says that what is also unusual is that this type/combination virus is the based on the same strain as in the 1918 Spanish flu virus (H1N1) outbreak (extremely deadly, 25 million dead in 25 weeks; total dead 50-100 million dead; 2.5%-5% of the world population). This makes the virus extremely deadly. The likelihood that this combination with the most deadly strain would happen naturally is very, very low.

[verity]

Have you placed a call to Jack Bauer yet?

[Jessica2677]

I just found this article from 2005.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7515802/

Basically it says that a 2 kits containing flu virus were sent out to Mexico and lost. All the others were supposed to be destroyed. I dont think this is just coincidence at this point.

[homegroan]

I have been sick going on 7 weeks now (already whined on another thread-thought it was only 6 weeks and realized next week will be 8 WEEKS!!) and it’s like I’ve had all different bugs. I have NEVER been this sick in my life.

Extremely high fever, feel like I can’t breathe and I still have the nagging cough. Had the stomach part first then it has attacked every part of my upper resp. tract-almost weekly. It is the weirdest “flu” I have ever had.

I live in CT, but ended up in an ER in Raleigh NC(where I went to take care of my sister & kids because she was in the hospital w/a stomach bug as she has IBS problems)-HE had it and he said they had no idea what it was -”maybe a new strain” because nothing worked on it. And the fatigue with it is AWFUL. That was the worst for him. I couldn’t stand the feeling like I couldn’t breathe. That’s why I went to the ER, but my O2 level was fine.
So, these days, ANYTHING is possible. It is a very nasty, nasty “bug”.

[TomGuy]

FoxNews reports:

62 dead, 1000 sick due to the flu in Mexico.

Stadiums and similar gathering places have been closed.