Flu 'Oddities' Breaking News and Hot Articles:

[Lori Price CLG]

http://www.legitgov.org/flu_oddities.html

FedEx Plane Carrying Flu Virus Crashes In Winnipeg --Cessna 208 was carrying frozen influenza and herpes viruses 07 Oct 2005 A cargo plane crashed on railway tracks not far from Winnipeg's city centre Thursday, killing the pilot but missing buildings and vehicles in the area, police said... In its cargo were six half-millilitre vials of virus samples - frozen influenza and herpes viruses - being sent to Thunder Bay for research, FedEx spokeswoman Karen Cooper said from Toronto. Although the samples were labelled dangerous goods, they were not considered hazardous at the crash site since all the cargo was destroyed in the blaze, she said (we hope). (Federal Express. When your herpes virus absolutely, positively, has to get there overnight. --LRP)

Lori Price
http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

[greyl]

1. The heroic pilot's name is Nancy Chase - Allen.

Story
"I think she was trying to avoid casualties on the ground," one eye-witness told CTV.

It's not unusual for FedEx couriers to transport potentially dangerous viruses by vehicle or by plane. It happens every day in Canada, and as long as the drivers or pilots are properly qualified, licensed and trained to handle the material it is within Transport Canada safety requirements.

But this is the second accident involving potentially dangerous viruses in less than a year in Winnipeg. In March, a FedEx van carrying anthrax and other biological agents was side-swiped in traffic.

NDP MP Pat Martin says something has to change.

"There are weak links here. We won't tolerate it in our community," he said. "We want an inquiry and we want better security measures."

A Toronto spokeswoman for FedEx, Karen Cooper, said the vials were to be sent to Thunder Bay for research purposes.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the crash. Winnipeg has experienced a cold-snap recently, with light snow and temperatures hovering around 0* Celcius, and police believe weather may have played a factor.

ed:Lnk