public health

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Belgian City Goes Vegetarian, Weekly

Ghent officials, schoolkids to observe "veggie day"

(Newser) - In good news for Belgian cows, the city of Ghent this week begins a weekly “veggie day,” on which officials will go vegetarian, the BBC reports. The move is an effort to cut greenhouse gases, almost a fifth of which come from livestock, the UN says; the city...

Swine Flu Came From Lab: Researcher
Swine Flu Came From
Lab: Researcher
May 13, 2009 4:22 AM CDT

Swine Flu Came From Lab: Researcher

WHO investigates claim that H1N1 arose from human error

(Newser) - The World Health Organization is investigating a claim by an Australian researcher that the swine flu virus may have been created in a laboratory as a result of human error. Adrian Gibbs, who helped develop Tamiflu, said in an interview with Bloomberg that the new strain may have evolved in...

Asia Unites Against Swine Flu Threat

Health ministers from 13 countries pledge increased cooperation

(Newser) - Health chiefs from 13 Asian countries met in Bangkok yesterday to hammer out a unified response to the H1N1 virus, Reuters reports. The ministers pledged to step up cross-border cooperation, establish joint response teams, and share essential supplies. A statement called for Asia to establish the capacity to produce vaccines,...

Flu Threat Smaller Than Feared

Mexico cuts flu death toll; virus fails to spread in flu-hit US cities

(Newser) - Officials in Mexico and the US remain cautious about the swine flu outbreak but say it appears to be less of a threat than first thought, the New York Times reports. In Mexico, less than half of suspected cases have turned out to be the H1N1 virus, very few relatives...

Obama 'Optimistic' as Flu Cases Rise

(Newser) - Continental Airlines said today it will begin cutting flights to Mexico on Monday because of the swine flu outbreak, the Houston Chronicle reports. The airline will cancel 180 of its 450 weekly flights and use smaller planes. As the number of confirmed cases in the US rose to 141 in...

Firm Warned of Flu Weeks Before WHO Alert

Watchdog discovered threat in daily Web scan; notified CDC

(Newser) - A company that specializes in biosurveillance issued a warning about swine flu more than two weeks before the World Health Organization announced the possible threat, McClatchy reports. The Washington state firm, Veratect, scans tens of thousands of Web sites every day in search of potential medical concerns. It reported a...

Mexico Official: 'We're On the Right Track'

(Newser) - Mexico's top medical official told the AP that he's hopeful swine flu has begun to wane in his nation. "The fact that we have a stabilization in the daily numbers, even a drop, makes us optimistic," said Jose Angel Cordova. "We think we're on the right track....

Flu Carries Lessons for Bioterror Fight
 Flu Carries Lessons 
 for Bioterror Fight 

OPINION
Apr 30, 2009 1:11 PM CDT

Flu Carries Lessons for Bioterror Fight

(Newser) - The H1N1 flu outbreak spotlights a public-health infrastructure ill suited to respond to a pandemic or its close cousin, a bioterror attack, D.A. Henderson writes for Newsweek. We must “sharpen our health-care response. Rapid diagnosis and response are critical,” he writes. The “interconnected world we live...

Mexico's First Flu Death Exposes Containment Trouble

Response quick, but follow-up efforts weak

(Newser) - After a 39-year-old woman became Mexico’s first person to die of swine flu, authorities quickly responded—but efforts were mixed, the AP finds. Medical teams interviewed 472 people who possibly had contact with the woman, a tax collector whose family runs a convenience store; they temporarily closed the ICU...

Avoid Planes, Trains, Closed Spaces: Biden

It's too late to close Mexico border, he says

(Newser) - Joe Biden is advising his family to avoid confined places where swine flu could spread easily, including airplanes, subways, classrooms, and malls, the VP told the Today Show today. A single sneeze "goes all the way through the aircraft," he noted. Biden also said it's too late to...

Mexico Shuts Down to Stem Outbreak

Calderón orders citizens to stay home for 5 days

(Newser) - The Mexican president told citizens to stay home tomorrow through May 5 for a five-day partial shutdown of the country's economy to reduce the risk of spreading swine flu, Reuters reports. In his first televised address since the outbreak, Felipe Calderón said that "there is no safer place...

WHO Raises Pandemic Alert to Second-Highest Level

(Newser) - The World Health Organization today raised the pandemic alert level for swine flu to its second-highest level and asked all nations to ramp up emergency measures, MSNBC reports. The agency says human-to-human transmission of the disease is spreading and believes the world could be on the brink of a global...

Texas Schools Cancel Sports as Flu Spreads

Some schools shut entirely

(Newser) - All Texas high schools are canceling sports and academic competitions until May 11 to prevent swine flu from spreading, and five school districts have canceled classes altogether, the Houston Chronicle reports. "Altering the schedule of our events is a way to keep our participants safe," said a state...

Child in Texas Is 1st US Swine Flu Death

Fatality is first outside Mexico since outbreak began

(Newser) - A 23-month-old child in Texas has become the first person in the US to die of swine flu, a government official said today. The death of the boy, who traveled from Mexico to seek medical treatment, is the first to take place outside Mexico, where the outbreak began, Reuters reports....

Feds: Expect US Deaths From Swine Flu

(Newser) - Swine flu continued its steady spread across the world, with federal officials warning to expect deaths in the US, the New York Times reports. The disease has been confirmed in seven countries and in five US states, but the only deaths—more than 150 so far—remain in Mexico. Five...

Senate Confirms Sebelius as Health Secretary

(Newser) - Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won Senate confirmation today to serve as the nation's health and human services secretary. She already has a public health emergency on her hands with the swine flu sickening dozens of Americans. The 65-31 vote came after Democrats urged quick action so Sebelius could get to...

Borders Tighten as Swine Flu Deaths Hit 152

(Newser) - Countries are tightening borders and stepping up containment methods as the swine flu body count continues to rise, the New York Times reports. The disease is suspected in 152 deaths, all in Mexico; 50 US cases are now confirmed from California to New York City. Health officials in Japan and...

Officials Fear Flu Drug Resistance
Officials Fear Flu Drug Resistance
Apr 28, 2009 6:40 AM CDT

Officials Fear Flu Drug Resistance

Misuse of antivirals by panicked public could breed stronger strains of disease

(Newser) - Pharmacies are stocking up on Tamiflu and other anti-influenza drugs as fears grow of a swine flu outbreak, but health officials warn that the antivirals could do more harm than good if administered incorrectly. Taking the drugs in the wrong dose or for too short a time can lead to...

Too Late to Contain Flu: WHO
 Too Late to Contain Flu: WHO 
Apr 28, 2009 4:44 AM CDT

Too Late to Contain Flu: WHO

(Newser) - Officials from the World Health Organization warn it’s too late to contain the swine flu and say governments should instead now focus on protecting their populations as best as possible, the BBC reports. The WHO bumped up its alert level from three to four—two levels shy of global...

Twitter Amplifies Swine Flu Fear
 Twitter Amplifies 
 Swine Flu Fear 
OPINION
Apr 27, 2009 2:55 PM CDT

Twitter Amplifies Swine Flu Fear

(Newser) - Twitter and other social networks are creating a swine-flu panic out of a molehill with their instantaneous updates, Robert X. Cringely writes for InfoWorld. The quick flow of less-than-dependable information means “people with head colds decide they're really dying from a porcine-borne bug and flood emergency rooms.” And...

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