This morning I was listening to the news on the radio and they said

Quote: there are now over eleventy billion* infected

All I could think of was Left 4 Dead [grin]

*the figure's not important

The media's level of fear mongering over this is just ridiculous, but based on similar viruses in the past I'm not surprised. SARS, west nile and bird flu all got similar responses, even though the symptoms where pretty much the equivalent of the common cold/flu. No one outside Mexico has died, because they got medical treatment, hardly what I'd call a "pandemic". The real story should be the sad state of Mexican social services.

Quote: Original post by Scet
The media's level of fear mongering over this is just ridiculous, but based on similar viruses in the past I'm not surprised. SARS, west nile and bird flu all got similar responses, even though the symptoms where pretty much the equivalent of the common cold/flu. No one outside Mexico has died, because they got medical treatment, hardly what I'd call a "pandemic". The real story should be the sad state of Mexican social services.

Even though I agree with the fact that the media loves DOOM and fear mongering, you're going unreasonably far by brushing off a swine flu epidemic as a bout of the common cold. Also, the confirmed cases of swine flu outside of Mexico are adding up quickly, which means that it's just a matter of time until people start dying, sadly.

I genuinely have a bad feeling about this whole thing, as it's spreading worldwide very quickly.

Quote: Original post by polymorphed

Quote: Original post by Scet
The media's level of fear mongering over this is just ridiculous, but based on similar viruses in the past I'm not surprised. SARS, west nile and bird flu all got similar responses, even though the symptoms where pretty much the equivalent of the common cold/flu. No one outside Mexico has died, because they got medical treatment, hardly what I'd call a "pandemic". The real story should be the sad state of Mexican social services.

Even though I agree with the fact that the media loves DOOM and fear mongering, you're going unreasonably far by brushing off a swine flu epidemic as a bout of the common cold. Also, the confirmed cases of swine flu outside of Mexico are adding up quickly, which means that it's just a matter of time until people start dying, sadly.

In the United States alone, 36,000 people die from the influenza virus every year.

Sure, it's mostly the very young and the very old, and these cases in Mexico are reportedly "healthy" people 25-40, but still, 150-odd deaths is nothing when you think that there are approximately 4 flu-related deaths every hour in the U.S. normally...

According to Reuters (source), Russia, South Korea and Thailand have restricted pork imports from Mexico and the United States. According to AFP, China bans pork imports from Mexico, parts of US. Other accounts include Indonesia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Jordan and Jamaica following suit. The markets are responding: Swine flu fears take toll on hog futures prices. This puts a whole new spin on Keynes "animal spirits" remark... How long before Glenn Beck claims that this swine flu outbreak is part of Obama's secret plot to forcibly convert America to Islam!!! I heard a few callers to the local wingnut show this afternoon make the suggestion.

Quote: Original post by LessBread
How long before Glenn Beck claims that this swine flu outbreak is part of Obama's secret plot to forcibly convert America to Islam!!! I heard a few callers to the local wingnut show this afternoon make the suggestion.

Man, the gullible idiots who believe that stuff give me mixed feelings. On one hand, I'm frustrated by their stupidity, but on the other hand, I suddenly have an urge to push the envelope on what the gullible might believe. What outrageous claim can I make which the extremists would swallow (hook, line and sinker) to then regurgitate verbatim in order to sound informed, but really come across as absurdly stupid?

Hmm, the 9/11 conspiracy theories have already been taken...
Holocaust denial has been done...
Attributing the 2006 tsunami to the wrath of god has been made... as well as hurricane katrina...
Columbine massacre to video game violence?

I got it! the swine flu is a genetically engineered virus covertly manufactured by PETA and Vegans to stop people from eating meat! First it was poultry products. Now its pork. What next? Beef via some disease which makes cows go crazy? :P

I must really tip my hat to the masters of misinformation though... Fox News never ceases to amaze me.

Quote: Original post by LessBread
According to Reuters (source), Russia, South Korea and Thailand have restricted pork imports from Mexico and the United States.

Yes,this is Sanitary-epidemiology service official letter

Quote:
...
According to preliminary data reassortantom diseases caused by influenza virus type A/H1N1, a combination of genes which have not previously seen in influenza viruses that cause the disease nor the people nor the pigs. Вирус является устойчивым к действию противовирусных препаратов амантадин (amantadine) и римантадин (rimantadine), но чувствителен к озельтамивиру (oseltamivir) и занамивиру (zanamivir). The virus is resistant to antiviral drugs amantadin (amantadine) and rimantadin (rimantadine), but sensitive to ozeltamiviru (oseltamivir) and zanamiviru (zanamivir).
...
2.6. Осуществлять широкую санитарно-просветительную работу среди населения о мерах индивидуальной и общественной профилактики гриппа и острых респираторных вирусных инфекций. Implement a broad health education work among the population on measures of individual and community prevention of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections.
...
3.2. В целях раннего распознавания начала пандемии, выделения и идентификации возбудителя, усилить эпидемиологический надзор за гриппом в стране, в первую очередь, в местах массового сосредоточения людей, и лабораторной диагностикой больных гриппом. In order to early start of a pandemic, isolation and identification of the causative agent, to enhance surveillance for influenza in the country, especially in the mass concentration of people and laboratory diagnosis of patients with influenza.
...
3.5. Проводить активную пропаганду в средствах массовой информации о путях заражения и мерах профилактики гриппа во время пребывания туристов в неблагополучных по гриппу странах и необходимости информирования медицинских работников (в случае заболевания) о пребывании в неблагополучных странах. An active propaganda in the media about how infection and prevention of influenza during a stay of tourists in disadvantaged countries, influenza and the need to inform health care workers (in the case of the disease) about your stay in disadvantaged countries.
...

Not much there about pork as a vector.

Pulp Fiction

Quote:

Jules Winnfield: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.
Vincent Vega: Yeah but bacon tastes good. Pork chops taste good.
Jules Winnfield: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy mother-fu**ers. Pigs sleep and root in sh**. That's a filthy animal. I ain't eating nothing that ain't got sense enough to disregard his own feces.
Vincent Vega: How 'bout a dog? Dog eats his own feces.
Jules Winnfield: I don't eat dog either.
Vincent Vega: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?
Jules Winnfield: I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy, but they definitely dirty. But, dog's got personality; personality goes a long way.
Vincent Vega: Ahh, so by that rational, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?
Jules Winnfield: Well, we'd have to be talking one charming mother-fu**ing pig.

Quote: Original post by Scet
The media's level of fear mongering over this is just ridiculous, but based on similar viruses in the past I'm not surprised. SARS, west nile and bird flu all got similar responses, even though the symptoms where pretty much the equivalent of the common cold/flu. No one outside Mexico has died, because they got medical treatment, hardly what I'd call a "pandemic". The real story should be the sad state of Mexican social services.

article from 2 days ago
speaks of fatality rate in mexico of 7 percent and of 11 cases in US. I'd naturally expect good chance of having no fatalities at all (11*0.07=0.77 expected fatalities, or, alternatively, 0.9311=0.45 for probability of no fatalities) even if fatality rate is same. The real story should be sad state of elementary math education, when people whom are supposed to know better start to speculate like this based on 11 cases.

For historic perspective: 1918's spanish flu killed about 50 millions, with average fatality of 2.5% and up to 30% in some regions. (viruses are racist btw; some ethnicities end up extremely vulnerable)
Flu is RNA virus, i.e. stores its genetic code in RNA rather than DNA, which makes it mutate like hell.
Seasonal flu is a great demonstration of inability of our medicine to deal with threat of lethal strain of flu that readily transmits from human to human.

edit: and as for SARS, it had >10% fatality in singapore and canada, which have relatively good healthcare. Compare that to seasonal flu (~0.1% fatality rate). We're very lucky that SARS was not very contagious and was contained.

[Edited by - Dmytry on April 28, 2009 1:57:58 AM]

Quote: Original post by LessBread

Quote:
...
According to preliminary data reassortantom diseases caused by influenza virus type A/H1N1, a combination of genes which have not previously seen in influenza viruses that cause the disease nor the people nor the pigs. Вирус является устойчивым к действию противовирусных препаратов амантадин (amantadine) и римантадин (rimantadine), но чувствителен к озельтамивиру (oseltamivir) и занамивиру (zanamivir). The virus is resistant to antiviral drugs amantadin (amantadine) and rimantadin (rimantadine), but sensitive to ozeltamiviru (oseltamivir) and zanamiviru (zanamivir).
...
2.6. Осуществлять широкую санитарно-просветительную работу среди населения о мерах индивидуальной и общественной профилактики гриппа и острых респираторных вирусных инфекций. Implement a broad health education work among the population on measures of individual and community prevention of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections.
...
3.2. В целях раннего распознавания начала пандемии, выделения и идентификации возбудителя, усилить эпидемиологический надзор за гриппом в стране, в первую очередь, в местах массового сосредоточения людей, и лабораторной диагностикой больных гриппом. In order to early start of a pandemic, isolation and identification of the causative agent, to enhance surveillance for influenza in the country, especially in the mass concentration of people and laboratory diagnosis of patients with influenza.
...
3.5. Проводить активную пропаганду в средствах массовой информации о путях заражения и мерах профилактики гриппа во время пребывания туристов в неблагополучных по гриппу странах и необходимости информирования медицинских работников (в случае заболевания) о пребывании в неблагополучных странах. An active propaganda in the media about how infection and prevention of influenza during a stay of tourists in disadvantaged countries, influenza and the need to inform health care workers (in the case of the disease) about your stay in disadvantaged countries.
...

Not much there about pork as a vector.

Pork just don't care in this case,it's too late.I just want to say that our country oficially has begun the full scale prepation to pandemia. They say that flu will come in Russia in the middle of May.