Swine Flu
- Thread starter Kopfanatic
- Start date
LooseCannon said:
Mexican, but not illegal - according the site I read*, she was a Mexican that was just visiting family in the US.
* It was either CNN or BBC. Can't recall which of those 3-letter acronyms it was. But it was reputable.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
In Egypt they are taking insane, drastic and unnecessary measurements: killing all pigs!
The pigs are only owned and consumed by a Christian minority (about 10% of the population).
The whole thing is a mistake, because:
1. The virus has not been found in Egypt.
2. The virus has nothing to do with pigs.
The slaughter will take at least a month.
The pigs are only owned and consumed by a Christian minority (about 10% of the population).
The whole thing is a mistake, because:
1. The virus has not been found in Egypt.
2. The virus has nothing to do with pigs.
The slaughter will take at least a month.
Wow, that is ridiculous! To me, it makes no sense, other than to discriminate against those who own pork in violation of Muslim beliefs.
(In case anybody read a post by me in this place that looked differently, I deleted it because the information I provided there was not entirely indisputable)
I read a pretty enlightening article by an internationally renowned professor for medical microbiology in my newspaper about this epidemic, what it really is and what can be expected from it.
Apparently, this virus is a hybrid of two different forms of swine influenza viruses that are of respective American and European origin, and not uncommon among pigs. It is, in fact, pretty normal that domestic pigs have influenza once in their lives, and this is usually not dangerous for people. Before this hybrid type of swine influenza became known to the general public, it had already been circulating among pigs for half a year. It cannot be compared to the Spanish, Asiatic or Hong Kong flues, however, and in its current form, it is, in fact, hardly any more dangerous to people than a normal influenza virus is (which in 2002/03 caused between 16,000 and 22,000 deaths in Germany, albeit mostly indirectly by weakening the body so it is receptive to more harmful viruses and bacteria).
It is not uncommon that an influenza virus passes borders, and I have myself once had what a doctor called the "Moscow Flu". I think the reason why this gets hyped so much by the media, and the author of the paraphrased article has the same opinion, is because it is a faint echo of the bird flu virus that haunts the front page news from time to time, although it cannot directly infect people. If it could, then we'd have a disaster, but as it is now, we're just buying into a hype.
I read a pretty enlightening article by an internationally renowned professor for medical microbiology in my newspaper about this epidemic, what it really is and what can be expected from it.
Apparently, this virus is a hybrid of two different forms of swine influenza viruses that are of respective American and European origin, and not uncommon among pigs. It is, in fact, pretty normal that domestic pigs have influenza once in their lives, and this is usually not dangerous for people. Before this hybrid type of swine influenza became known to the general public, it had already been circulating among pigs for half a year. It cannot be compared to the Spanish, Asiatic or Hong Kong flues, however, and in its current form, it is, in fact, hardly any more dangerous to people than a normal influenza virus is (which in 2002/03 caused between 16,000 and 22,000 deaths in Germany, albeit mostly indirectly by weakening the body so it is receptive to more harmful viruses and bacteria).
It is not uncommon that an influenza virus passes borders, and I have myself once had what a doctor called the "Moscow Flu". I think the reason why this gets hyped so much by the media, and the author of the paraphrased article has the same opinion, is because it is a faint echo of the bird flu virus that haunts the front page news from time to time, although it cannot directly infect people. If it could, then we'd have a disaster, but as it is now, we're just buying into a hype.
Luckily, the newspaper article (printed media, I still get most of my information from offline sources) is online, but it is in German:
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/meinung/komm ... 41,2790343
Credibility: This is the daily newspaper I read. It is one of the biggest and most observed in the country, so it is highly unlikely that they spread misinformation. Years of reading it have provided me with a good instinct of what to believe right away and what not, and that it is a good piece of journalism. The fact that most of its content is available free on the internet goes to show that they don't want to sell their product at all costs. The particular column this article appears in has proven in the past to be very correct. The author is the director of the microbiological institute of the university of Halle.
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/meinung/komm ... 41,2790343
Credibility: This is the daily newspaper I read. It is one of the biggest and most observed in the country, so it is highly unlikely that they spread misinformation. Years of reading it have provided me with a good instinct of what to believe right away and what not, and that it is a good piece of journalism. The fact that most of its content is available free on the internet goes to show that they don't want to sell their product at all costs. The particular column this article appears in has proven in the past to be very correct. The author is the director of the microbiological institute of the university of Halle.
I'm sure there are, but I don't have the time to dive too deep into that sort of stuff. 
Wait, could it be that the great misconception is that some people think they could be infected by eating pork?
In that case, we're on the same line, Foro.
In that vein... the following story... you just can't make this sort of stuff up:
Afghanistan's only pig quarantined in flu fear
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's only known pig has been locked in a room, away from visitors to Kabul zoo where it normally grazes beside deer and goats, because people are worried it could infect them with the virus popularly known as swine flu.
The pig is a curiosity in Muslim Afghanistan, where pork and pig products are illegal because they are considered irreligious, and has been in quarantine since Sunday after visitors expressed alarm it could spread the new flu strain.
"For now the pig is under quarantine, we built it a room because of swine influenza," Aziz Gul Saqib, director of Kabul Zoo, told Reuters. "We've done this because people are worried about getting the flu."
Worldwide, more than 1,000 people have been infected with the virus, according to the World Health Organization, which also says 26 people have so far died from the strain. All but one of the deaths were in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak.
There are no pig farms in Afghanistan and no direct civilian flights between Kabul and Mexico.
"We understand that, but most people don't have enough knowledge. When they see the pig in the cage they get worried and think that they could get ill," Saqib said.
The pig was a gift to the zoo from China, which itself quarantined some 70 Mexicans, 26 Canadians and four Americans in the past week, but later released them.
Some visitors were not concerned about the fate of the pig and said locking it away was probably for the best.
"Influenza is quite contagious and if it passes between people and animals then there's no need for the pig to be here," zoo visitor Farzana said.
(More in the link, including pictures of the animal)
Even I would not have come up with the idea that there is exactly one pig in Afghanistan.
Wait, could it be that the great misconception is that some people think they could be infected by eating pork?
In that case, we're on the same line, Foro.
In that vein... the following story... you just can't make this sort of stuff up:
Afghanistan's only pig quarantined in flu fear
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's only known pig has been locked in a room, away from visitors to Kabul zoo where it normally grazes beside deer and goats, because people are worried it could infect them with the virus popularly known as swine flu.
The pig is a curiosity in Muslim Afghanistan, where pork and pig products are illegal because they are considered irreligious, and has been in quarantine since Sunday after visitors expressed alarm it could spread the new flu strain.
"For now the pig is under quarantine, we built it a room because of swine influenza," Aziz Gul Saqib, director of Kabul Zoo, told Reuters. "We've done this because people are worried about getting the flu."
Worldwide, more than 1,000 people have been infected with the virus, according to the World Health Organization, which also says 26 people have so far died from the strain. All but one of the deaths were in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak.
There are no pig farms in Afghanistan and no direct civilian flights between Kabul and Mexico.
"We understand that, but most people don't have enough knowledge. When they see the pig in the cage they get worried and think that they could get ill," Saqib said.
The pig was a gift to the zoo from China, which itself quarantined some 70 Mexicans, 26 Canadians and four Americans in the past week, but later released them.
Some visitors were not concerned about the fate of the pig and said locking it away was probably for the best.
"Influenza is quite contagious and if it passes between people and animals then there's no need for the pig to be here," zoo visitor Farzana said.
(More in the link, including pictures of the animal)
Even I would not have come up with the idea that there is exactly one pig in Afghanistan.
Kopfanatic
Trooper
Other articles I've read state that, although this Flu is fairly mild, the time to worry is when the weather starts to get colder again later this year.Apparently The Spanish flu pandemic started the same way, treatable symptoms for a while, but as winter set in thats when it really kicked in.
I can't remember where I read that though.
I can't remember where I read that though.
Yeah, that's true. However, this virus is no more lethal than the Spanish flu or any other influenza virus. Let's break this down a bit.
The Spanish flu had a rather high mortality rate, but it was still "only" at 3%. I suck at maths, so somebody else please figure out how many people have to be infected so that 50 million people died of it. However, it was an awful many people. So it figures that while the virus was only marginally more lethal than a normal influenza virus, it was much more aggressive, meaning that many more people got infected. That's what actually made the difference. This current influenza virus is not as exceptionally aggressive, and I don't think there is anything to worry about.
I don't even think it is possible for an influenza virus to have such a devastating effect in our world as it did ninety years ago. The big problem with the Spanish flu was that it wasn't even discovered or pinpointed when it had already spread out of control. As we see now, every single patient is monitored. The means and methods have improved greatly, and influenza really shouldn't be a problem today anymore.
The Spanish flu had a rather high mortality rate, but it was still "only" at 3%. I suck at maths, so somebody else please figure out how many people have to be infected so that 50 million people died of it. However, it was an awful many people. So it figures that while the virus was only marginally more lethal than a normal influenza virus, it was much more aggressive, meaning that many more people got infected. That's what actually made the difference. This current influenza virus is not as exceptionally aggressive, and I don't think there is anything to worry about.
I don't even think it is possible for an influenza virus to have such a devastating effect in our world as it did ninety years ago. The big problem with the Spanish flu was that it wasn't even discovered or pinpointed when it had already spread out of control. As we see now, every single patient is monitored. The means and methods have improved greatly, and influenza really shouldn't be a problem today anymore.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Perun said:
I am sorry mate, but the article didn't really convince me that there's proof that the virus started with a pig. It is certainly possible but it wasn't found on a pig when it all started in Mexico. Maybe that's what I should have said earlier today (sorry for the confusion). This is what I have read and heard. But maybe I made mistakes when reading this German article.
I find the measurements from Afghanistan insane, but that fits to some other backward ideas (look how women are treated!). Since Afghans travel more than pigs (esp. if there's only one damned pig!), they should imprison some folk with beards, if they really want to protect their arses.
Forostar said:I am sorry mate, but the article didn't really convince me that there's proof that the virus started with a pig. It is certainly possible but it wasn't found on a pig when it all started in Mexico. Maybe that's what I should have said earlier today (sorry for the confusion). This is what I have read and heard. But maybe I made mistakes when reading this German article.
The article is a bit ambiguous there. It clearly states that the virus had been circulating among pigs for half a year -although not where- before the first person got infected, but it makes no mention of how that person got infected, and I have not actually heard that from anybody so far.
But still, I found it rather enlightening when it comes to explaining what that darned virus actually is.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Agreed.
On wiki is lot of info as well (with sources). Interesting to see how different countries react to the virus.
On wiki is lot of info as well (with sources). Interesting to see how different countries react to the virus.