U.S. tornadoes trap people in homes


Searchers in the Birmingham area of Alabama were going from house-to-house early Monday in an effort to rescue people trapped in their homes by tornadoes sparked by storm systems that moved across the U.S. Midwest and Southeast.

Fire crews were starting the search in Center Point, north of Birmingham, where there were reports of an unknown number of people trapped, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Duty Manager Bob Ammons said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Rescuers would do "whatever it takes" to get to the residents, Ammons told The Associated Press before dawn Monday.

In Clanton, about 80 kilometres south of Birmingham, rescuers were responding to reports of a trailer turned over with people trapped, City Clerk Debbie Orange said.

In Arkansas, there were possible tornadoes in the counties of Arkansas, Dallas, Lonoke, Prairie and Cleveland on Sunday night. The storms also brought hail and strong winds as they moved through parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and Mississippi.

Damages to homes is also reported near Fordyce, some 112 kilomertres south of the state capital Little Rock, Accuweather.com reported.

Tornado warnings were issued for parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama early Monday.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012 ... torms.html

3 dead in Alabama as storms pound South, Midwest


At least three people have died in Alabama after severe thunderstorms pounded the South and Midwest early Monday, leaving thousands without power and prompting tornado warnings in a handful of states, Reuters reported.

Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman Randy Christian said a 16-year-old boy was killed in Clay and an 82-year-old man died in the community of Oak Grove.

A storm system produced a possible tornado that moved across northern Jefferson County around 3:30 a.m., causing damage in Oak Grove, Graysville, Fultondale, Centerpoint, Clay and Trussville, Christian said. He said several homes were destroyed and numerous injuries were reported.



Power outages were also reported for tens of thousands of people, Fox affiliate WBRC-TV reported.

"Some roads are impassable, there are a number of county roads where you have either debris down, trees down, damage from homes," Yasamie Richardson, a spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, told the Associated Press. Jefferson County experienced "significant damage," she said.

Elsewhere in the Birmingham, Ala., area, searchers were going from house-to-house in an effort to rescue people trapped in their homes.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/23/2- ... z1kIIs8hAn


Federal government spending cuts could chop between 60,000 and 68,000 jobs from the public service in the next few years, a report from a progressive think-tank estimates.

The conclusion stems from a review of three separate rounds of restraint since 2007, and it suggests once completed in 2015, the federal public service could be trimmed to the lowest staffing levels since 2000.

Already, about 6,300 salaried positions are in the process of being eliminated as a result of department reviews launched between 2007 and 2010, designed to save $1.8 billion.

But that is the "tip of the iceberg," says the report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The major impact on jobs will derive from the $2-billion departmental spending freeze announced in 2010, which is only now being put into effect, and the $4-billion Strategic and Operating Review that will be part of the coming budget.

In total, the three waves of cost cutting are intended to yield the government $7.8 billion in annual savings upon completion in 2014-15.

Government ministers have yet to reveal how they will apportion the cuts, but have conceded jobs will be lost through attrition and likely also layoffs.



Federal government spending cuts could chop between 60,000 and 68,000 jobs from the public service in the next few years, a report from a progressive think-tank estimates.

The conclusion stems from a review of three separate rounds of restraint since 2007, and it suggests once completed in 2015, the federal public service could be trimmed to the lowest staffing levels since 2000.

Already, about 6,300 salaried positions are in the process of being eliminated as a result of department reviews launched between 2007 and 2010, designed to save $1.8 billion.

But that is the "tip of the iceberg," says the report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The major impact on jobs will derive from the $2-billion departmental spending freeze announced in 2010, which is only now being put into effect, and the $4-billion Strategic and Operating Review that will be part of the coming budget.

In total, the three waves of cost cutting are intended to yield the government $7.8 billion in annual savings upon completion in 2014-15.

Government ministers have yet to reveal how they will apportion the cuts, but have conceded jobs will be lost through attrition and likely also layoffs.



Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20 ... z1kIJ9ILsY

Up to 68,000 public service jobs to be cut: report

Federal government spending cuts could chop between 60,000 and 68,000 jobs from the public service in the next few years, a report from a progressive think-tank estimates.

The conclusion stems from a review of three separate rounds of restraint since 2007, and it suggests once completed in 2015, the federal public service could be trimmed to the lowest staffing levels since 2000.

Already, about 6,300 salaried positions are in the process of being eliminated as a result of department reviews launched between 2007 and 2010, designed to save $1.8 billion.

But that is the "tip of the iceberg," says the report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The major impact on jobs will derive from the $2-billion departmental spending freeze announced in 2010, which is only now being put into effect, and the $4-billion Strategic and Operating Review that will be part of the coming budget.

In total, the three waves of cost cutting are intended to yield the government $7.8 billion in annual savings upon completion in 2014-15.

Government ministers have yet to reveal how they will apportion the cuts, but have conceded jobs will be lost through attrition and likely also layoffs.



Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20 ... z1kIJ9ILsY

Repossessions set to soar as obscure EU clause means those in arrears for just three months will default on loans

Homeowners could face soaring mortgage costs because of an obscure EU directive being pushed through the European Parliament.
British lenders will be forced to start repossession proceedings when borrowers fall behind on their payments after three months rather than six as at present.
Thousands more people will have to hand over the keys to their properties if the change takes effect, the Financial Times reported.

With the risk of default much higher, it could cost banks 15 to 20 per cent more to lend.

This is likely to be passed onto homeowners - or lenders will make less mortgages available.

It is being brought in by the EU to make banks safer and reduce the risk of another financial crisis.
The reform, which could have a wide-ranging impact, is hidden in an obscure clause within a bank capital directive.
Banks will also be given less time to restructure payments to help homeowners avoid defaulting - in a process called forbearance.

The changes, which are being discussed by the European Parliament, could come into effect as soon as next year.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1kIuYVxh9

Bird Flu Death Reported in Southwest China

BEIJING (Reuters) - A man in southwest China died of bird flu on Sunday after three days of intensive care treatment in hospital, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Health as saying.


The 39-year old -- who died in hospital in Guiyan, capital of Guizhou province -- began suffering from fever on Jan. 6.

Xinhua said China's centers for disease control and prevention at provincial and national levels confirmed the man had died after being infected with the H5N1 bird flu strain.

The man had had close contact with 71 individuals, but none had shown unusual symptoms, the health ministry told Xinhua. The report did not mention whether the man had been in recent contact with birds.

The virus is normally found in birds, but can jump to people who have no immunity to it. Researchers worry it could mutate into a form that would spread around the world and kill millions.


http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/286044/ ... -china.htm

Obama speech to focus on economic fairness

State of the Union address tonight to talk about restoring U.S. middle class


With economic anxiety showing through everywhere, the speech will focus on a vision for restoring the middle class, with Obama facing the tricky task of persuading voters to stick with him even as joblessness remains high at 8.5 per cent. Obama can point to positive signs, including continued if sluggish growth; his argument will be that he is the one to restore economic equality for middle-class voters.

Implicit in the argument, even if he never names Republican presidential frontrunners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, is that they are on the other side. Obama's speech will come as Gingrich and Romney have transformed the Republican campaign into a real contest ahead of Florida's crucial primary next week. And he'll be speaking on the same day that Romney, a multimillionaire, released his tax returns, offering a vivid illustration of wealth that could play into Obama's argument about the growing divide between rich and poor.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012 ... obama.html

Nine in Mexico dead from A(H1N1) swine flu


The death toll in Mexico from an outbreak of A(H1N1) swine flu has hit nine, with 573 cases detected, officials said Sunday.

The strain represents some 90 percent of detected cases of influenza in the country, the health ministry said in a statement.

The number of cases reported was up sharply from Thursday, when health officials said 333 had been identified. Authorities have brushed aside suggestions of a new health emergency but have begun tracking new cases since December.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/22/n ... swine-flu/

Dec 1 2011
H3N2-H1N1




Swine-origin triple reassortant influenza A(H3N2) viruses in North
America - ECDC Risk Assessment
------------------------------------
Conclusions and recommendations:
Following recent infections in children in North America with a
swine-origin triple reassortant influenza A(H3N2) virus that includes
a genetic component from the pandemic [H1N1] 2009 virus, and with
probable human-to-human transmission of these viruses, ECDC has come
to the following preliminary opinion:

- These viruses are known to be found in pigs in North America, but
they have not been found in pigs in Europe (EU/EEA countries).
However, surveillance for influenza in pigs is weak in both North
America and Europe, and surveillance for infections in humans in close
contact with pigs is notably weak in Europe. Hence, all such
statements on the epidemiology of swine influenzas must be treated
with caution.
- Most of the US cases experienced only mild disease. Those
hospitalised had underlying conditions, and all patients recovered
completely.
- These viruses are susceptible to the neuraminidase inhibitors
(oseltamivir and zanamivir) though the current A(H3N2) component of
seasonal influenza vaccines is unlikely to provide protection. Older
people are likely to have some protection from exposure to earlier
vaccines.
- It is considered by the United States Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) that there had already been some very limited human-to-human
transmission of these and similar viruses in the US.
- Unlike in March 2009 (the start of the pandemic), there are no
reports of numbers of unexplained influenza infections elsewhere in
the Americas. Hence, it is unlikely that these US cases represent
outliers for a larger phenomenon.
- Overall, therefore, the immediate direct threat to human health in
Europe is low.
- ECDC staff are following the situation closely and are in direct
contact with the WHO, the US CDC and relevant experts in EU Member
States.
- There is a need to ensure that these infections could be detected
through diagnostic testing in European national influenza
laboratories.
- There are strong public health arguments for more active
virological surveillance of pig herds in Europe (and North America)
including active surveillance of infections in humans that are in
direct or indirect contact with pigs.
- Equally justified are more formal approaches to assessing emerging
influenza viruses for their pandemic potential, and such virological
risk assessments should continue to be developed.
- Unusual influenza viruses should continue to be referred to
National Influenza Centres and on to the WHO Collaborating Centre in
Europe, along with relevant clinical and epidemiological data.

Public Health Issue:
[There is] implication for Europe of recent human infection and
limited probable human-to-human transmission in the United States with
triple reassortant swine-origin influenza S-OtrA(H3N2) viruses with a
unique gene segment combination including the M gene from the 2009
A(H1N1) pandemic viruses.

However, since these are now seasonal viruses and no other human
adapted A(H1N1) viruses have been found in the last Northern and
Southern seasons in this risk assessment, they will generally be
referred to as A(H1N1) in text for brevity. Swine influenza viruses
are generally designated as S-O to indicate swine origin.


http://www.promedmail.org/?p=2400:1000: ... 702832:::::

Dec 5 2011
83 confirmed cases of A(H1N1) in Muntinlupa City


MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health Center for Health Development Metro Manila Regional Director Eduardo Janairo revealed on Wednesday that there are 83 confirmed cases of A(H1N1) in Muntinlupa City.

He said the health department’s National Epidemiology Center (NEC) reported a total of 83 laboratory confirmed A(H1N1) cases in the said city from January 1 to November 5 this year.

Janairo added that there have been no fatalities from the pandemic A(H1N1) reported.

There are 109 cases in the National Capital Region, according to the DOH-CHD-MM.

Janairo advised the public to wear warm clothing during cold weather and to “keep fit and strengthen their immune system against the influenza virus.”

He also warned the public against going to crowded places “as the virus spread easily in closed contained areas because it is air-borne.”

But Janairo clarified that there was no need for panic, saying that “the influenza virus is now treated as an ordinary flu and it can be treated by Oseltamivir, an over-the-counter drug that is available in major drugstores.”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/103193/83- ... nlupa-city


Pigs in Lori village may be infected with African swine fever: ministry


YEREVAN, November 30. /ARKA/. Pigs in the village of Lorut in northern province of Lori may be infected with African swine fever (ASF), the Armenian ministry of agriculture said today in a statement posted on its official website. Recent reports in Armenian media said pigs in that village might have died of this disease.

According to the statement, the first studies showed that the symptoms of the disease are similar to those of African swine fever. It said preventive measures had been taken in this community several months ago. The experts recommended that the villagers keep pigs indoors to avoid re-infection.

"However, this important warning was clearly ignored and that could have contributed to the new outbreak of the infection," said the statement.

http://www.arka.am/eng/economy/2011/11/30/29462.html


More Cases of Classical Swine Fever Reported
GUATEMALA - Nineteen more cases of classical swine fever have been reported to the OIE.


The 19 new cases were reported to the OIE on 01/12/2011.

The outbreaks occured at:

Chituplun Chines, Lanquin, ALTA VERAPAZ - 15 cases and two deaths.

Tierra Nueva 1, Chinautla, GUATEMALA - four cases and four deaths
Of the 48 susceptible there were 19 cases leading to six deaths.

The cause of the outbreak is still unknown.

http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/282 ... r-reported



New Flu Strain Makes Health Experts Nervous

Is a new strain of H3N2 swine flu a danger to public health or just to the reputations of public health experts?


A new variant of an influenza virus that circulates in pigs has been jumping occasionally into people, providing a surprisingly early opportunity for public health officials to test out some of the lessons learned from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

Since the virus was first spotted in July, there have been 10 cases, all but one of which were children under the age of 10. (The exception was a 58-year-old.) All the cases have been in the U.S.; there have been no reports of this virus in people or pigs anywhere else

The most recent infections, in three young children in Iowa, almost certainly involved person-to-person spread. The Iowa cluster is likely larger—no one in the first child’s family had exposure to pigs, suggesting an unidentified person was the source of virus.

The cases leave public health authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere wondering if a new swine-origin flu virus is circulating at low levels among humans—and what needs to be done if that is indeed happening. (Read “Flu Factories” in the January 2011 Scientific American (preview) to learn why health authorities fear the next pandemic virus may emerge as a result of industrial farming practices.)

Given the mercurial nature of flu viruses—which can easily mutate into lethal pathogens—ignoring the new virus is not an option, even though to date there have been no deaths and most of the infections have produced only mild symptoms. But the widespread perception that the 2009 swine flu pandemic was much ado about nothing means health authorities risk further damage to their already battered credibility if they sound an alarm and this virus turns out to be a dud. And they know it.

The World Health Organization is working to be ready to react if needed, but wants to make sure it neither underplays or overplays its response to this potential new threat, which is technically known as a swine origin influenza A virus of the H3N2 subtype. The new virus has acquired the M gene of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus; studies suggest that this gene may enhance transmissibility of the virus.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... from-swine


New flu virus puzzles WHO


The spread of an odd new flu virus that has been jumping from pigs to people in parts of the United States has the World Health Organization gearing up its response planning, a senior official of the agency says.

The UN health body is figuring out what needs to be done if the virus continues to spread and a global response is required, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general for health security and environment said in an interview from Geneva


The WHO wants to be ready to make recommendations and issue guidance to countries if the need arises — though Fukuda stressed at this point it is far from certain there will be that need.

"We're very aware that we don't want to over-play or under-play. We're trying to get that right," says Fukuda, a leading influenza expert.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/201 ... virus.html

Dec 5 2011
H5N1

Egypt: New human case of avian influenza H5N1


On Tuesday, November 29th, Egyptian authorities reported a new human case of avian influenza H5N1 in Meet Salseel District (in the Ad Daqahliyah Governorate). The patient started to develop the symptoms on November 16th and is currently in a critical condition. According to the latest information, the patient has been on contact with poultry.

From the beginning of 2011 until November 29th, authorities have confirmed 34 human cases of avian influenza (including 12 deaths). Most of the cases have been reported along the Nile River. Since 2006, 153 human H5N1 infections including 52 fatalities have been reported in Egypt. Symptoms of human infection by the H5N1 virus are high fever (typically over 38°C) as well as other flu-like symptoms including chills, headaches, nausea, etc. Patients may experience coughing, shortness of breath and pulmonary infiltrates.

http://www.netglobers.com/africa/egypt- ... 24707.html

Chickens destroyed in Bhaktapur over Bird-Flu suspicion

Around 1300 chicken and 200 ducks at Manohara Landless Squatters' Settlement have been destroyed on Tuesday on the suspicion of Bird Flu in the chicken and ducks of local Chandra Bahadur Tamang.



A team of doctors from the Department of Health, Directorate of Animal Health, Division of Avian Influenza and Animal Rapid destroyed all the ducks and chicken by burying after killing with the use of poisonous substances.



According to Senior Veterinary Doctor and In-charge of the Team Dr. Narayan Prasad Ghimire, the team destroyed the ducks and chicken after detecting Bird Flu in the ducks and chicken of the area.

http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.p ... sID=310970


Bird flu fear shuts 22 schools in Bhaktapur

Fearing the spread of bird flu among children, 22 private schools in and around the ‘bird flu zone’ have announced the closure from Friday to Monday.

The schools were shut acting on public pressure though the public health officers of Bhaktapur and Kathmandu have put three-kilometer area around Lokanthali, where all the birds were culled and anti-virus pesticides sprayed on Tuesday, under surveillance.

Schools in Lokanthali, Kaushaltar, Gatthaghar and Balkot have been closed, as parents feared the spread of disease among the children while going to school.

Bhuvan Lal Shrestha, chairman of Private and Boarding Schools Organisation-Nepal, Bhaktapur, said the decision was forced by lack of awareness among parents and poor government response to the outbreak.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/rssRef ... sID=311280


Bird flu-like virus killing Jharkhand crows

The Centre has sent an alert to the Jharkhand government to remain cautious about a possible poultry infection, after a mysterious bird flu-like virus is believed to have killed between 500 and 1,000 crows in Jamshedpur, Bokaro and parts of Hazaribagh. Though an official intimation from the Union animal husbandry department is still to reach the state, a study on the crow deaths conducted at the animal disease laboratory in Bhopal found a virus resembling that of bird flu. However, the study allays fears about cattle, poultry and humans being infected because the virus was detected only in the brain of the dead crows.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... -husbandry

AVIAN INFLUENZA (75) - INDIA: (JHARKHAND), CROWS, SUSPECTED, REQUEST
FOR INFORMATION

Crows dropping dead in cities and towns across Jharkhand [eastern
India] have sparked panic among the people of the state after health
officials pointed a finger at avian virus.

The Jharkhand animal husbandry department (AHD) has sounded an alert
and asked people not to touch the dead crows. It has issued
advertisements in local dailies asking people to keep away from the
dead birds and inform the administration when they spot dead crows.

http://www.promedmail.org/?p=2400:1000: ... 702832:::::





VIETNAM :: Avian Influenza H5N1 Re-breaks Out In Central Highlands

"Local authorities in Vietnam's Central Highlands Dak Lak province instructed destroying a flock of more than 1,300 ducks and 9,800 duck eggs due to their infection to the avian influenza H5N1, reported the local Agriculture and Rural Development Department on Tuesday."

Read Full Article At :: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsw ... ?id=630513

UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS, AVIAN - GERMANY: (SAXONY-ANHALT), REQUEST FOR
INFORMATION

The deaths of several dozen crows and 2 barn owls in Hoym
[Saxony-Anhalt] in the past week is a mystery. The 1st 53 dead crows
were found under their roosting trees on an exit road from Hoym.
Shortly after, the 2 dead owls were found in the rectory garden, a
loss that weighs heavily on the community because these birds are on
the list of endangered animal species.

Even after the examination of the dead birds by the State Office for
Consumer Protection, Stendal branch, many questions remain, said
Christian Lutter, veterinary officer of the Salzland district.
However, the experienced veterinarian could at least exclude that the
birds died of a highly contagious poultry disease.

According to Lutter, the animals examined apparently died of acute
cardiovascular failure that could have been triggered by various
factors, including bacterial or parasitic infections that weakened the
animals, possibly acutely. "However, this does not explain the
massive, almost simultaneous deaths of the birds," he said. Maybe the
birds had eaten food that was treated with pesticides; however, there
is no concrete evidence for it.


http://www.promedmail.org/?p=2400:1000: ... 702832:::::

Dec 12 2011 Zen Prep day 11 the fat lady sings
H5N1


World vigilant after Dutch lab mutates killer virus


World health ministers said Friday they were being vigilant after a Dutch laboratory developed a mutant version of the deadly bird flu virus that is for the first time contagious among humans.

"We need to be very vigilant. This is something that we talked about a lot this morning," French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said on the sidelines of a meeting of the Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI) in Paris.

The GHSI comprises the G7 group of industrialised nations along with Mexico, the European Union's Commission and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

A research team led by Ron Fouchier at Rotterdam's Erasmus Medical Centre said in September it had created a mutant version of the H5N1 bird flu virus that could for the first time be spread among mammals.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu is fatal in 60 percent of human cases but only 350 people have so far died from the disease largely because it cannot, yet, be transmitted between humans.

The announcement led to fears the mutant virus could find its way into nature or that the publication of the research on how the virus was mutated could be used by terrorists.

EU Health Commissioner John Dalli told journalists he had received assurances from Dutch authorities that the virus was secure.

"The Dutch authorities confirmed that the virus itself is stored in a very secured way and that the necessary permits were given and that the researchers are bound by a code of conduct," Dalli said.

"One of the issues ... is to ensure that any information coming from this research is well controlled and without sensitive details about mutation being given," he said.

Fouchier said in a statement his team had discovered that transmission of the virus was possible between humans "and can be carried out more easily than we thought."

"In a laboratory, it was possible to change the H5N1 into a virus ... that can easily be spread through the air. This process (mutation) could also happen naturally," Fouchier said.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 42UEsR3doQ

Dec 21 2011 ZEN day 21 52 weeks left till Mayan TEOTWAWKI
U.S. asks journals not to publish details of controversial bird flu studies


The U.S. government has asked scientific journals and two top-flight research teams not to publish details of controversial studies on the bird flu virus, expressing concerns the information could be put to nefarious use.

The unpublished studies, in the hands of the journals Science and Nature, reveal how Dutch and American research teams managed to mutate the H5N1 avian flu virus to the point where it became highly transmissible in ferrets, which are considered the best predictor of how flu viruses might behave in humans.

The U.S. government asked the journals to publish only brief reports of the results of the work on the advice of its biosecurity advisers, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity. The biosecurity board looks at so-called dual use research: science that is done for legitimate reasons, but which could be used for bioterrorism.

The request is non-binding; the U.S. government does not have the power to block the publications.

In exchange for asking the journals to limit the scope of what they reveal, the U.S. government said it would work with international partners to try to devise a system whereby parties that need to know the full details of the research — other flu scientists and public health officials, for instance — could be given access to the material.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/u-asks-journal ... 18607.html



Bird flu: Research row as US raises terror fears


The authors of two controversial bird flu studies have reportedly agreed to a US request to redact key details after a government advisory panel suggested the data could be used by terrorists.

The papers show how a bird flu variant can pass easily between ferrets.

Editors at the journals Science and Nature say they will not agree to the redactions until they are assured the data will be accessible to researchers.

A spokesman for US health authorities said such a system was being prepared.

At least one set of scientists have already rewritten their paper in light of the recommendation, Science reports.

Albert Osterhaus told Science his team "completely disagreed" with the recommendation of the panel, the the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB).

But Mr Osterhaus, who believes the information should be made widely available, said an editorial explaining his team's "genuflection" to the panel is a condition of the paper's publication in Science.

A second research team at the University of Wisconsin, Madison is also reluctantly submitting a revised paper to Nature, a university spokesman confirmed to Science.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16279365



Hong Kong orders chicken cull as bird flu alert raised


Hong Kong is culling 17,000 chickens after three birds were confirmed to have died from the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in the past week.

The government has banned imports and the sale of live chickens for three weeks after an infected chicken carcass was found at a wholesale market on Tuesday.

It has also raised the city's flu alert system to "serious".

Two wild birds were also found to have died of the the virus.

The government said it was tracing the source of the chicken carcass, but it was not clear whether the chicken came from a local farm or was imported.

"I understand that it will cause inconvenience to the public, and the poultry trade will also encounter losses," said Hong Kong's secretary for food and health, York Chow.

"However, to safeguard public health, we need to adopt decisive and effective measures to prevent and control the spread of the virus."

On Tuesday, a dead Oriental magpie found at a secondary school tested positive for bird flu.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16280698


Hong Kong raises bird flu alert level, bans imports


Hong Kong raised its bird flu alert level to "serious" on Tuesday and announced it is to cull 17,000 chickens after three birds tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

http://news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-raises- ... 54331.html



Wild Bird Found Dead with H5N1

HONG KONG - A seagull found dead at Yuen Long on 13 December has tested positive for H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).


The veterinary authority sent an Immediate Notification dated today, 19 December to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultryne ... -with-h5n1

Dec 22 2011 Zen Prep day 22
Flu shot fantasies: How influenza vaccines halt flu infections (even when they don't)

Vaccines are so effective at halting disease that they confer total immunity, say vaccine advocates. "Take a flu shot and you won't get the flu!" Both flu shots and MMR vaccines are so safe and effective that everybody should be forced to take them, they insist.

And why? Because they claim all those un-vaccinated people will spread disease to the vaccinated people!

(Insert vinyl record screeching sound here.)

Hold on just a minute. Wasn't their whole argument about vaccines based on the idea that they confer total immunity to those who take them? Well, if that's true then they should have no fear whatsoever of un-vaccinated people!

According to vaccine promoters, if you take a flu shot vaccine, that means you can run around and drench yourself in flu viruses with total immunity. You can lick dirty doorknobs, shake hands with people who just wiped their runny noses, and even touch filthy drooling babies right before you eat a sandwich with your contaminated hands. Thanks to the vaccine, you're now bulletproof!

So why worry at all about un-vaccinated people infecting you?


Vaccines cause brain damage
See, the vaccine logic just doesn't add up. There's a reason for that, of course: Vaccines make you stupid. The chemical adjuvants added to vaccines actually cause neurological damage and interfere with healthy cognitive function. That's why brain-damaged people who take vaccines -- also known as Vaccine Zombies -- can't work out the simple logic explained above.

It's also why people who take vaccines are easily fooled into taking yet more vaccines. The critical thinking parts of their brains have been impaired, and they also have trouble with math and finances. Did you know that two-thirds of Americans cannot explain how compound interest works? Try to explain fundamental concepts of fractional-reserve banking to your average vaccine consumer and you'll quickly discover just how brain damaged they really are.

Vaccines, fluoride, MSG and toxic heavy metals all work together in our modern world to chemically lobotomize the masses, turning them into drooling (useful) idiots who are just barely smart enough to punch a clock and operate some machinery on the job, but not nearly smart enough to realize how much they're all being ripped off by the Fed's money creation schemes that devalue the currency.

In fact, you might say that a vaccine-impaired population is absolutely essential for the existence of a police state government that relies on the poor cognitive function of its own citizens to maintain power and control over them. If people could actually do math, for example, they'd be marching in Washington right now -- just over the national debt if nothing else.


Vaccine zealots are time travelers (in their own minds)
Another especially hilarious truism about flu shots is that they only work if you go back in time to the year before and expose yourself to last year's flu viruses. That's because each year's flu shot is made from the circulating viral strains found last year, not this year.

Viruses mutate rapidly, resulting in structural changes that often circumvent immune system antibodies, especially if those antibodies were created in response to exposure of a different strain. So getting injected with last year's viral strains is only useful if you're a time traveler with a time machine in your living room. Wanna relive the flu season of 2007? No problem! The vaccine companies have those strains readily available for you. Just crank up your time-traveling gizmo that you bought on eBay and you're ready to roll!

But if you're looking to protect yourself in the present (or the near future), getting injected with last year's influenza strain is about as idiotic as thinking you can beat the stock market by buying a crystal ball off eBay.


Vaccines need no proof that they work
The best part about the total morons who get vaccinated every year with flu shots is watching them try to explain why they always get sick anyway!

Me: "Hi, Cathy. Merry Christmas. Oh, you're sick again this year? What happened?"

Cathy: "I don't know, I just started feeling tired and achy again, and now I'm vomiting every four hours and can't eat."

Me: "Huh, sounds like the flu. But that's weird, don't you get the flu shot every year?"

Cathy: "Yeah, and it's a good thing, too, because if I didn't, this flu would have been even worse."

This is, of course, the very kind of loopy "quackery" logic that mainstream medicine invokes when attacking holistic medicine or homeopathy. Notice that Cathy has now justified her vaccine injections by believing they offered her flu protection even when she's the one who's sick? Furthermore, she mistakenly believes that flu shots reduce the severity of her influenza infection, even when that's pure bunk as well.

It's a curious behavioral tendency in humans, of course, to rationalize their decisions with irrational thinking. This is especially true in the vaccine industry where people have been brainwashed into thinking vaccines are effective whether or not they actually work.

Option #1) Did you avoid the flu this winter? Must have been the flu shot!

Option #2) Catch a flu this winter? Oh, it "could have been worse" without the flu shot.

So, in the minds of the flu shot takers, there is no scenario in which the flu shot fails. It ALWAYS works in their minds, regardless of the outcome. That's a sure sign that somebody at the medical clinic is quacking like a duck... Quack! Quack!


99% of the vaccine-taking public are delusional


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034452_flu_s ... z1hG6HYMLb

Dec 23 2011 Happy Holidays day 23
Too late to contain killer flu science, say experts

US government's hopes of suppressing details of controversial research may be doomed, say scientists



Attempts to censor details of controversial influenza experiments that created a highly infectious form of bird-flu virus are unlikely to stop the information from leaking out, according to scientists familiar with the research.

The US Government has asked the editors of two scientific journals to refrain from publishing key parts of research on the H5N1 strain of bird-flu in order to prevent the information falling into the hands of terrorists intent on recreating the same flu strain for use as a bioweapon.

However, scientists yesterday condemned the move. Some said that the decision comes too late because the information has already been shared widely among flu researchers, while others argued that the move could obstruct attempts to find new vaccines and drugs against an infectious form of human H5N1 if it appeared naturally.

Professor Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, said that the research, which was funded by the US Government, should never have been done without first assessing the risks and benefits.

“The work posed risks that outweighed benefits and that were clearly foreseeable before the work was performed,” Professor Ebright said.

“The work should have been reviewed at the national or international level before being performed, and should have been restricted at a national or international level before being performed,” he said.

------------------------


Flu scientists in Britain, meanwhile, said that it is doubtful whether the details of the two experiments can be kept secret even if Science and Nature agree to the redaction of key parts of the scientific manuscripts – which they seem to have accepted.

“The exact mutations that made this transformation possible were not particularly novel or unexpected so anyone with a reasonable knowledge of influenza virology could probably guess at them if they so wished,” said Wendy Barclay, professor of influenza virology at Imperial College London.

“I’m very wary that information should be withheld from the scientific literature because we move forward by sharing information. It’s important to know if viruses such as H5N1 are capable of tolerating the mutations that would allow human-to-human transmission,” Professor Barclay said.

“We need to know the mutations to look our for. If we don’t know what the mutations are that make the virus more transmissible, we won’t know what to look out for when we monitor the spread of new flu viruses. This type of information is generated for a good reason – it’s to help us to be prepared,” she said.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 80399.html



When it comes to bird flu, nature is the greatest bioterrorist

I hope that fear of terrorism will not lead to the suppression of valuable research about engineering the H5N1 virus

A few months ago, Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier made what he hoped would be a low-key announcement at a conference on influenza in Malta. After a series of painstaking experiments, Fouchier announced he had achieved the holy grail of influenza research: engineering the H5N1 bird flu virus so that it could pass easily between mammals. The "airborne" virus had been created, Fouchier explained, not by using sophisticated, lab-based genetic technology but by the relatively low-tech method of passaging H5N1 repeatedly through ferrets.

read more at link

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... orist-h5n1

Dec 30 2011



Swine flu strain resistant to Tamiflu is spreading more easily


The flu season is still young in the U.S. and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, but Australia wrapped up its flu season months ago, and public health officials there have some disturbing news to report: The version of so-called swine flu that is resistant to the drug Tamiflu is spreading more easily in the land Down Under.

--


Public health officials took virus samples from 182 patients treated in doctors’ offices and hospitals between May and August. They found that 29 of those samples – or 16% – turned out to be resistant to Tamiflu.

The 29 patients ranged in age from 4 months to 62 years, with a median age of 31; 17 of the patients were female, including three who were pregnant. Among all 29 patients, the most common flu symptoms were cough (experienced by 86% of patients) and fever (affecting 76% of patients). Seven patients required admission to the hospital, but none was treated in the ICU and none died.

Genetic analysis of the flu samples revealed that all of the 29 patients were infected with a single strain. Most of these patients lived within about 30 miles of Newcastle, the seventh largest city in Australia. (Two related strains were detected elsewhere in Australia, including 100 miles away in Sydney, the country’s largest city.)

It’s unclear how the Tamiflu-resistant strain spread from person to person. Eight of the patients lived with another person who was infected, and two other patients rode together in a car. The rest of the patients “had no known epidemiologic link,” according to the report.

The authors of the report, including three scientists working for the World Health Organization, warned flu experts in the Northern Hemisphere to be on the lookout for this flu strain – or any other strain that is resistant to Tamiflu – this winter.

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostersh ... 9533.story



Community Transmission of Oseltamivir-Resistant A(H1N1)pdm09 Influenza

read more of this when I am fully awake(up to early)

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1111078


Bring the below info to show these are 2 totally different variants(mutations)

Wednesday December 28, 2011

Swine flu variant reported in W.Va.

West Virginia has had two confirmed cases of a variant of the swine flu in children attending the same daycare in Mineral County, the state Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services said.

One case of H3N2v was detected in mid-November, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also known as the CDC. The other case was detected later that same month.

The cases "caused mild illness and the children involved have fully recovered," Loretta Haddy, state epidemiologist and director of the state Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services, said in an email.

"We are continuing to work with our partners across the state looking for H3N2v through increased surveillance efforts," Haddy said.

H3N2v is an influenza A (H3N2) variant virus with genes from human, swine and avian lineages," according to the CDC.


http://www.dailymail.com/News/statenews/201112270156

Jan 5 2011
Swine flu virus may be spreading between people


A new strain of the swine flu virus called A(H3N2) may now be spreading through person-to-person contact, the Public Health Agency of Canada says.

The announcement comes after a number of warnings concerning the H3N2 virus by U.S. authorities in recent months.

The virus is a variant of the swine flu virus H3N2.

Though it usually infects pigs, the A(H3N2) virus has infected 12 people in the U.S. since July 2011, according to the U.S. Centre of Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases have been mild respiratory illnesses, though three people with underlying conditions were hospitalized and recovered.

While in earlier cases the virus had spread from pigs to humans, the most recent cases were spread through limited person-to-person contact, according to PHAC. No cases of the virus have been reported in Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/201 ... -phac.html