WHO chief will oversee swine flu crisis

[spotbird]

Source: CTV.ca

WHO chief will oversee swine flu crisis

Updated Sat. Apr. 25 2009 8:20 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The head of the World Health Organization will lead the agency's efforts against a deadly swine flu outbreak that may have killed more than 60 people in Mexico.

Margaret Chan cut short a visit to Washington and returned to the WHO's Strategic Health Operation Center in Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday.

According to a WHO spokesperson, Chan was immediately briefed ahead of an emergency committee meeting planned for later in the day to determine if the agency should raise the pandemic alert level or issue a travel advisory for Mexico.



Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090425/swine_flu_090425/20090425?hub=TopStories

[Ian David]

1. We should send a delegation of Republicans there to examine it first hand. n/t

[FourScore]

3. LOL. Perfect. n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

2. no, WHO's on first, WHATs the name of the guy handling the flu crisis

[Voice for Peace]

4. WHO is handling the flu crisis, WHAT's handling the Republicans

[lonestarnot]

5. WHO's on turd?

Sorry. :evilgrin:

[dgibby]

6. I don't know.

:shrug:

[Justyce]

7. I should've never read "The Stand". This stuff scares the shit out of me.

:scared:

[Nay]

8. Me neither. All I can think about is Captain Tripps

[FirstLight]

14. well, I hate to agree with you...

But it would be a natural "check" on population growth and dwindling resources...

also, if the global warming, peak oil and water drying up doesn't get us...viruses will...

I am glad I am living in a remote rural area so I may be able to "see it coming" if it ever got to that point...

:scared:

[ananda]

9. The language is pretty alarmist and sensationalist..

I mean.. it's the flu.

When I was little, flu and illness were
just an everyday part of life. You
dealt with it and that was that.

Today it's a huge media event. I suppose
that does two things... promotes the
media and builds fear and voyeuristic
schadenfreude to a degree that's just
ridiculous.

[SteelPenguin]

10. same with me

when I was little the flu was just an everyday part of life...

...of course for my great grandmother the flu killed 6 of her siblings back in the pandemic of 1918 and would never have described the flu as an everyday part of life...

[Andy Canuck]

11. 1918 wasn't ridiculous.

We do have an outrageous tendency to sensationalize, but a flu that so far has killed 7% of those infected is something to take seriously. What would you rather have a serious response or a Katrina response?

This is scary and very serious.

This is a hybrid flu virus, maybe it will burn itself out, or maybe we had better be prepared. I hope it burns itself out and I want to be prepared.

[Baby Snooks]

15. Time will tell...

Influenza tends to spread quickly and this appears not to be spreading quickly. So while not giving credence to zenophobia it may be a more "genetic" form of influenza. Mexico apparently rarely has problems with influenza so the population may not have any "natural" immunity.

That is a relatively new area of science and medicine. Looking at how some diseases target specific populations and not others.

One thing that is amazing is how the Mexican government moved quickly to try to contain it. They shut down Mexico City. Anything involving crowds of people has been cancelled for I believe the next ten days.

Time will tell. If there are additional cases here in the next couple of days the indication will be that it at least has the potential of becoming a pandemic. So far that doesn't seem to be the case.

So many of these new viruses seem to mutate quickly into less virulent and less transmissible strains. Which in itself is a mystery.

[NCDem60]

12. Not really

A new strain is a very different matter than the usual yearly outbreaks of older strains. Also the more modern a society the more severe the effect of a pandemic. Most large cities are totally dependent on daily delivery of food to stores. Suppose 40 to 50% of truckers are down with the flu and deliveries stop or are severely limited. How do you think New Yorkers, or people in any large city, will respond to unusual numbers of people dying and no food in the stores. It wouldn't be pretty.

[andym]

13. It is influenza, but they're worried that it is not just the Flu

The worry is that this strain may create a pandemic like the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919. Unless you're in your 90's you would not have experienced that Flu, which killed somewhere between 2-5% of those infected (now estimated at 50-100 million people). Unfortunately, most of those killed were young adults (99% less than 65, >50% between 20-40). It's been predicted that another pandemic is inevitable.


Prudence and cautionary words are called for. Panic however is not.

[Mojorabbit]

16. It is not just the flu

it is a virus that is new. If it ends up keeping the 7 percent case fatality rate which is the best number we have now and goes pandemic we could have millions of deaths. It is not the same as seasonal flu.