Swine, Bird & Human Flu combination Emerges.

[TFG]

If anyone is thinking of going to Mexico or Texas for the spring break, Beware.

I noticed a lot of shop staff wearing masks recently in Fitcare Depot, a drug store and asked why.
The told me that they have been ordered to wear masks and wash their hands in alcohol by the Japanese government.
Is this the start of it all?


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dozens of people have died and hundreds of others have been infected in a viral outbreak in Mexico suspected to have been caused by a strain of swine flu.

Seven non-fatal cases of a new form of swine flu have also been confirmed in the southern United States.

A WHO spokesman said 12 out of 18 samples taken from the Mexican victims showed they died from a virus with the same genetic structure as the one found in the US.

In the US, experts say the seven people who fell ill across two states were suffering from a new form of swine flu that combined pig, bird and human viruses.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8016909.stm

[IkemenTommy]

Fuckin pig fuckers

[leitmotiv]

Is this the start of it all?

A key indicator of things getting started will be to see whether the WHO decides to raise the pandemic threat level to 4 (from 3). Japan has some action plans that are tied to this score. WHO is meeting on the issue now.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090424.wflumain0424/BNStory/International/home

[Greji]

Fuckin pig fuckers

Perverts...

[FG Lurker]

Is this the start of it all?

According to the Globe and Mail article the virus causing this "shows sensitivity to Tamiflu and Relenza". I'm guessing that the 20 people who died probably didn't seek medical treatment (no money?) until it was already too late or perhaps the hospitals didn't have anti-flu medications available.

Still, a very scary situation. Eventually we're going to see a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic but in a much more densely populated world...

[TFG]

Yeah, and I wonder just how much Tamiflu there is here in Japan right now.

Also, those thermal cameras at Narita are ok but, how long is the incubation period. Is it possible to get infected then have no symptoms for a couple of days? Just long enough to get on a plane and interact with lots of people.

SHIT!

[FG Lurker]

Yeah, and I wonder just how much Tamiflu there is here in Japan right now.

Quite a lot I would imagine, doctors like to give it out like candy.

[osopolar]

in case anyone wanted to see a global visual..



..via Google Maps..

[FG Lurker]

I'd also be a lot more worried if this was happening in November than April.

[dimwit]

The bothersome thing for me is how it will effect my travel plans for the summer. I remember back in 2003 when I couldn't return to Toronto because my students and employers were panicing about SARS.

[FG Lurker]

The bothersome thing for me is how it will effect my travel plans for the summer. I remember back in 2003 when I couldn't return to Toronto because my students and employers were panicing about SARS.

Hmm, I dunno.... Not being able to go to Toronto doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me!

[IkemenTommy]

Yeah, and I wonder just how much Tamiflu there is here in Japan right now.

I wouldn't worry about it. From Breibart:

Agriculture minister Shigeru Ishiba appealed for people to stay calm, noting that the flu so far appeared to be confined to Mexico and the United States, and underlining that the drug Tamiflu seemed to provide effective treatment.

"There is no risk of infection now," Ishiba said Sunday, appearing on a talk show on the private Asahi television network. "Should you be infected, Tamiflu is very effective. We have enough stockpiles in Japan."

[leitmotiv]

Quite a lot I would imagine, doctors like to give it out like candy.

This is a likely reason for resistant strains of influenza starting to show up, including avian flus (which can trade genetic info with normal flu strains under certain circumstances - including Tamiflu resistance info). Japan's consumption of Tamiflu is through the roof, even compared to the US. It is so high that extremely rare CNS side effects (severe depression; hallucinations) show up in general use that dont show up in the US (and certainly not in Roche's clinical studies for approval).

Tamiflu (and other anti-virals and antibiotics) are WAY overused in Japan. In the year 2009, it would be expected to have seen a trend towards better use of immunizations in Japan, but I understand that there is a stalwart group of (older) doctors here who will tell you, with a straight face, that vaccines are proven to be ineffective.

Interesting side note, Tamiflu production is utterly dependant on the availability of a certain chinese spice - star anise - from which is extracted the vital starting material shikimic acid. Its too expensive to synthesize from scratch. As a result, star anise is becoming quite rare. If any FGs out there are adept at synthetic chemistry or industrial microbiology and can devise a way to make bulk shikimic acid on the cheap, there is probably a gold mine biotech opportunity awaiting you to supply japans (misguided) Tamiflu appetite.

[Kuang_Grade]

I'd also be a lot more worried if this was happening in November than April.

This might be only the opening round....The 1918 pandemic also opened in the spring and then really took off in the fall...although it is an open question if it will, over time, mutate up or down the lethality ladder.

[nottu]

[nottu]

[Takechanpoo]

According to Zakzak, One gaijin bitch from Mexico was displayed red in her face in thermography in quarntine gate in Narita. But this bitch broke thuogh the gate in spite of staff's claim.

This bitch must be a agent of NWO!!!

[Mulboyne]

According to Zakzak, One gaijin bitch from Mexico was displayed red in her face in thermography in quarntine gate in Narita. But this bitch broke thuogh the gate in spite of staff's claim.

This bitch must be a agent of NWO!!!

According to that link, she didn't break through. The staff manning the sensor wasn't paying attention and called after her too late so she didn't turn around. It's not clear why, if they thought it was important, they didn't just walk up to her while she was queuing at immigration.

It also doesn't say she was Mexican. Since they didn't stop her, they can't know what nationality she was.

This all assumes, of course, that ZakZak isn't just making it up.

[IkemenTommy]

According to Zakzak, One gaijin bitch from Mexico was displayed red in her face in thermography in quarntine gate in Narita. But this bitch broke thuogh the gate in spite of staff's claim.

This bitch must be a agent of NWO!!!

Japan is now fucked. It's the end of the world as we know it.

[dimwit]

I dunno about in other countries outside of Mexico but the cases in Canada are reported to be very mild i.e. a case of the snuffles and it has been posited that maybe the really shitty air quality of Mexico City may have made people especially vulnerable.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090426.wflumain27/BNStory/National/home

Hmm, I dunno.... Not being able to go to Toronto doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me!

Personally, but I like my summers to be sweater free watching the Blue Jays live and yet at the same time being comfortable enough to be able to spend the majority of my time outside unlike most of western Japan in August.

[Midwinter]

According to Zakzak
This bitch must be a agent of NWO!!!

BWAHAHAHA you fucking fruit. SSHHHH Takepooinyourmouth, the ILLUMINATI might hear you BWAHAHAHA.

In other news, we're all doomed. More as it develops.

[Bucky]

The pushpins seem to be increasing 12:30 p.m. PDT

in case anyone wanted to see a global visual..



..via Google Maps..

[Iraira]

Think they"re gonna quarantine me this weekend when I try to come back through Narita from LA with >150 tortillas in my suitcase?

[2triky]

Think they"re gonna quarantine me this weekend when I try to come back through Narita from LA with >150 tortillas in my suitcase?

Corn or flour?

[Iraira]

Corn or flour?

I want to bring back both...depends on the expiration date when I do my final trip to Ralphs before I tell the cultists trying to solicit money at LAX to fuck the hell off. Sucks that all this is happening so close to Cinco de mayo.

[2triky]

I want to bring back both...depends on the expiration date when I do my final trip to Ralphs before I tell the cultists trying to solicit money at LAX to fuck the hell off. Sucks that all this is happening so close to Cinco de mayo.

Might as make a run to King Taco and bring back some Tacos al Pastor and some Tortas.

[Bucky]

I want to bring back both...depends on the expiration date when I do my final trip to Ralphs before I tell the cultists trying to solicit money at LAX to fuck the hell off. Sucks that all this is happening so close to Cinco de mayo.

Just tell them they are beef or chicken tacos. No pork!

[pheyton]

Think they"re gonna quarantine me this weekend when I try to come back through Narita from LA with >150 tortillas in my suitcase?

Costco in Japan doesn't sell tortillas anymore?

As for the flu, starting to get a little nervous now with all the fear mongering on the tube and radio. Especially having kids, or as Jim Ward would say, Germ wagons.

[Mike Oxlong]

[yt]ASibLqwVbsk[/yt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_Flu#1976_U.S._outbreak

[Greji]

According to Zakzak, One gaijin bitch from Mexico was displayed red in her face in thermography in quarntine gate in Narita. But this bitch broke thuogh the gate in spite of staff's claim.

This bitch must be a agent of NWO!!!

That's a shame Take. She read about you and your love for blondes and was coming to J-land to give you that long hoped for ride, but now you've insulted her, she flew out for home last night. I guess you're back to the wank wagon...