I am reading a lot about an outbreak of swine flu. It’s the H1N1 variety, for those to whom it makes a difference.
Reuters had the first news I read on it. It appeared first in Mexico, where stories indicate it has killed between 20 and 1000 people, including medical personnel. President Felipe Calderone has declared an emergency.
One of the men who greeted President Obama in Mexico has died of the flu.
Some in Mexico have been emailing the BBC with updates and claiming the figures are grossly underreported.
Students in Queens (NY) were then reported to have it. An airline employee in England is being watched.
“World Health Organization director Dr. Margaret Chan has said the new strain of H1N1 has the potential to become a pandemic strain because it does spread easily and does cause serious disease.”
Swine flu has just been confirmed in Kansas.
Ontario is worried.
Baxter International is working to help contain the outbreak. You probably don’t know this, but Baxter has been caught mixing avian flu with flu vaccine, resulting in sending the live virus to European labs by mistake. That’s awfully suspicious, isn’t it?
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You can increase your knowledge by going to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which has a page with key facts about swine flu.