From Twitter: Biosurveillance company reporting Canada to Mexico flights being cancelled

[rainbow4321]

Can't find anything else on the web but for what it is worth, here is this info:




http://twitter.com/veratect

http://twitter.com/Veratect/status/1614954982


http://www.veratect.com/about.html


http://biosurveillance.typepad.com/biosurveillance/2009/04/swine-flu-in-mexico-timeline-of-events.html

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-25-swine-flu-smithfield/

On Friday, the U.S. disease-tracking blog Biosurveillance published a timeline of the outbreak containing this nugget, dated April 6:

Residents believed the outbreak had been caused by contamination from pig breeding farms located in the area. They believed that the farms, operated by Granjas Carroll, polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, which in turn led to the disease outbreak. According to residents, the company denied responsibility for the outbreak and attributed the cases to “flu.” However, a municipal health official stated that preliminary investigations indicated that the disease vector was a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste and that the outbreak was linked to the pig farms. It was unclear whether health officials had identified a suspected pathogen responsible for this outbreak.

[ORDagnabbit]

1. any verification on this?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

2. No, of course not, because it's not true. n/t

[rainbow4321]

3. Just the entry and the organization/company providing it...

A biosurveillance company called Veratect

Their other entries seem to be matching what has been unfolding if not in real time as close to real time as they can get.

Apparently, someone with the company testified before a Congressinal subcommittee in 2008


http://biosurveillance.typepad.com/biosurveillance/2009/04/where-is-the-department-of-homeland-securitys-national-biosurveillance-integration-center.html


From the closing statements in my testimony, July 16, 2008 (James M. Wilson V, MD, Veratect Corporation, before the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology Hearing on “One Year Later – Implementing the Biosurveillance Requirements of the ‘9/11 Act’”):

1. It is in the national and global interest for the NBIC charter to be implemented immediately. This envisioned system will help protect human, animal and plant life, the national food supply and critical infrastructure against the common enemy of disease. The first step is early detection. We are doing that today.

2. We provide a superset of capabilities, resources and global relationships with private and non-profit organizations that can be of the greatest value to NBIC in meeting its mission. What we do is not reliant upon the NBIC system. We can provide NBIC with a fully operational early disease detection and tracking system today.

3. The disease risks are real and we are on borrowed time. We are fortunate that the SARS epidemic and this year’s H3N2 vaccine mismatch were not more disruptive. And we remain very much exposed to an influenza pandemic. We are eager and ready to support the national mission today.
------------

I can change the wording in my OP....

[TheBigotBasher]

4. I have not seen any major news source say this

nor have I read about that on any air companies sites.

Not sure how true this one is.

[rainbow4321]

5. I don't know...more entries that have yet to hit the news

Guess we will find out soon enough if the MSM is not reporting fast enough or if none of this pans out...


http://twitter.com/veratect

Texas: Health officials close high school due to two confirmed swine influenza cases.

Texas: Health officials prohibiting reporters with respiratory symptoms from press conference

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

7. Yes.

I guess we'll soon find out whether ever single person in the world aside from this one person/company on Twitter are ignoring this.

Also, who closes a high school on Saturday?

[rainbow4321]

8. They didn't close school on a Saturday..the **announcement** for next week's closure

was MADE on a Saturday.

As far as the company, they may be worth a second look given that the company official warned of such a pandemic back in 2008 when he testified before Congress. SOMEone at the fed level must have thought the company had info that they could use. It was at a hearing about implementing the "Biosurveillance Requirements of the ‘9/11 Act"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5533228&mesg_id=5533228

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. What announcement? Where?

Seeing as the purpose of an announcement is to inform a large number of people of something important to them I find it highly suspect that this has only been reported on Some Dude's Twitter Account.

[rainbow4321]

15. (sigh)

Your question was who closes school on a Saturday...my response was the **announcement** was made that the schools would be closed NEXT week..the announcement was made BOTH via the MSM and Twitter entries. Pretty much simultaneously.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

19. So I ask once again...

What announcement? Where? If you can't answer this simple question...

[Mojorabbit]

18. I have read this re the school closure

at multiple reputable news sites today. I have a migraine or would look it up but a google search will bring it up. Columbia has five people suspect that flew in from mexico also. The number of Mexican cases has increased to 1324 with 81 probable deaths.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

20. Yeah. I have an anal cyst, so I can't possibly post a link.

Yes, it's on all of the reputable news sites. Wait, no, it's not, because it's bullshit. Oh no, I've exceeded my 140 character limit. I'm still waiting for the flights from Canada to stop.

[Garbo 2004]

21. Article: Swine flu concerns close Steele High

Swine flu concerns close Steele High By Ron Maloney
The Gazette-Enterprise

Published April 26, 2009
SCHERTZ — State health officials Saturday closed Byron Steele High School after announcing a possible third case of swine flu had been confirmed at the facility — and asked Guadalupe County residents to avoid attendance at large events or gatherings.

Dr. Sandra Guerra, a Department of State Health Services regional director and the public health authority for Guadalupe County said the move is a precautionary one intended to suppress the cluster of swine flu cases in Guadalupe County and hopefully slow or stop the spread of the illness, which is so far believed responsible for about 70 deaths in Mexico.

“The purpose is to reduce the risk to students, staff and the community,” Guerra said. “It will be closed for one week, beginning immediately.” http://www.seguingazette.com/story.lasso?ewcd=e5195c38e2d826bd

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. I'm sorry.

Please phrase your response in the form of 140 characters and a tinyurl link.

Oh wait, this is... legitimate information.

[Spazito]

6. I can find nothing on the Canadian news wires that confirms this...

at this time.

[dem629]

9. I've seen it all now. Twitter "sources"...wonderful.

[Robb]

10. Fascinating, really.

...Takes the whole "Hey, guess what WE heard?!?" 24-hour news cycle up a notch. :D

[Robb]

11. Actually, I was making fun of this earlier, but a lot of their stuff seems to be accurate

...if a little early. :shrug:

[rainbow4321]

14. They just added suspected cases in MN and MA

http://twitter.com/veratect

California: Seventh confirmed swine influenza case reported in a 35-year-old female who has been hospitalized and released.
42 minutes ago from web

Suspected swine influenza cases reported in Minnesota and Massachusetts.
about 1 hour ago from web

Mexican health officials now allowed to isolate swine influenza cases and enter private residences to implement control measures.
about 1 hour ago from web

Mexican Health Ministry receives approval to implement "extraordinary measures" to control swine influenza.
about 1 hour ago from web

[bicentennial_baby]

16. I just read an MSNBC article that mentions MA as well

x(

[BlooInBloo]

12. I call bullshit...

20 flights from Vancouver to Mexico City, leaving tomorrow.

[applegrove]

17. All I can say is thank god this flu didn't break out during Easter travel or March Break. Thank

gosh cause many more people would have been travelling then.

[rainbow4321]

23. It may not have "broken out" then but it was there

Part of the timeline: the man in Canada who was hospitalized was showing signs of a respiratory illness when he returned from Mexico on March 22nd

One of the things mentioned yesterday on the blog (think it was this one) below was that because of the huge public Easter/religous gatherings in Mexico the virus had already spread rapidly so the damage had already started...health officials just didn't know about it yet.


http://biosurveillance.typepad.com/biosurveillance/2009/04/swine-flu-in-mexico-timeline-of-events.html

March 30

Veratect reported that a 47-year-old city attorney for Cornwall was hospitalized in a coma at Ottawa General Hospital following a recent trip to Mexico. Family members reported the individual voluntarily reported to the hospital after gradually feeling ill upon returning from his trip on 22 March. The source stated that the hospital did not know the cause of illness. The case was reportedly on a respirator and awaiting a blood transfusion, but sources did not provide symptoms or a suggested cause of illness. This information was available in our web portal to all clients, including CDC and multiple US state and local public health authorities, however no one had connected this man’s illness with a potential crisis in Mexico.

April 2

Local media source Imagen del Golfo reported that state health officials recorded a 15% increase in disease over an unspecified period in the highland areas of Veracruz, which includes La Gloria. The increase was primarily due to higher levels of upper respiratory disease and gastroenteritis. Specifically, officials noted an increase in pneumonia and bronchial pneumonia cases. Health officials attributed the increase to seasonal climate changes.

April 6

Veratect reported local health officials declared a health alert due to a respiratory disease outbreak in La Gloria, Perote Municipality, Veracruz State, Mexico. Sources characterized the event as a "strange" outbreak of acute respiratory infection, which led to bronchial pneumonia in some pediatric cases. According to a local resident, symptoms included fever, severe cough, and large amounts of phlegm. Health officials recorded 400 cases that sought medical treatment in the last week in La Gloria, which has a population of 3,000; officials indicated that 60% of the town’s population (approximately 1,800 cases) has been affected. No precise timeframe was provided, but sources reported that a local official had been seeking health assistance for the town since February.

[applegrove]

25. Actually there is a private schoon in windsor Nova Scotia that has an outbreak and some of their

students (at least one I think) were in Mexico on holiday. Same with a school in Aukland New Zealand. So I was wrong. Totally wrong. The bug did spread during spring break and the like.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

24. Ready to apologize for being a fearmonger yet?

None - NONE - of what you posted is true. What excuse do you have for trying to scare the he'll out of people?