Others   

Swine Flu - Is history repeating itself?

Starting with M.Top volume today and already move up 18%

des_khor      ( Date: 27-Apr-2009 10:14) Posted: what counter in SGX ?? iPunter      ( Date: 27-Apr-2009 10:09) Posted: Anyway, companies that make or sell face masks will prosper in this...

 

Hahaha... you must do your own frantic research on this...
But it may be short-lived... esp if nothing big comes out of this... 

And no one should try and spread panic !!!

 

Is there a vaccine for swine fever?  If not have they tried SAR vaccine.  It might help.

Now they are out to slaughter the swines..

 

what counter in SGX ??

iPunter      ( Date: 27-Apr-2009 10:09) Posted: Anyway, companies that make or sell face masks will prosper in this...

 

Yoh, jangan tension, relax lah. Mex auth was right. Cordon off to prevent furhter spreading is ult measure for any commu diseases, likewise everywhere. Even for birdflu, killing k of poultries also another effective measure, local still dying fr birdflu in Indon, but our tour agent didn't stop people to go there for holiday leh??

Spore still bars to import pig fr over d causeway, same reason loh. But people still go over there for cheap foods n fuel right???? Ha ha FT predicted calamity happening on 12 Apr n 22 Jul, but they missed ds one!!!!

 

Anyway, companies that make or sell face masks will prosper in this... 

 

The world is now much much more prepared than before to control and tackle any widespread virus outbreak.

Re member, SARS was different in that no one was serious about it in the biginning..

 

now, the mkt is bleeding from this news...more to come! run before too late...

tchoonw      ( Date: 27-Apr-2009 08:41) Posted: this one will be more worst and deadly than sars! run out of the mkt before too late! Andrew      ( Date: 26-Apr-2009 23:40) Posted: WOW, the speed of spread of the disease is really fast.  In the modern human history for the last one century, everytime a flu outbreak killed tens of million of people. This time round, the gene swap involve Human Flu + Swine Flu + Bird Flu.

 

This morning, heard on BBC  -  reports from Mexico  - situation is much more dire than reported in press. Streets almost deserted, churches closed, interviews with docs in hospitals sound scary

 

this one will be more worst and deadly than sars! run out of the mkt before too late!

Andrew      ( Date: 26-Apr-2009 23:40) Posted: WOW, the speed of spread of the disease is really fast.  In the modern human history for the last one century, everytime a flu outbreak killed tens of million of people. This time round, the gene swap involve Human Flu + Swine Flu + Bird Flu.

 

WOW, the speed of spread of the disease is really fast.  In the modern human history for the last one century, everytime a flu outbreak killed tens of million of people.

This time round, the gene swap involve Human Flu + Swine Flu + Bird Flu.

 

 

I f it is affecting New York, high chance of affecting singapore stock market.. Maybe it is god sent, to punish exec who take bonus for bad performance.. Bad Karma....

Go a little defensive on stock... monitor the situation.. Market like to use this type of excuse to sell down.. May see short seller back in full force..

Time to pick up good stock after short seller done its damage... Be patience and wait .. Greed when other Fear, Fear when other are Greedy.. WB say...

 

Swine wrap from Asia, plus whether it has affect on the market....

    April 26 (Reuters) - Asia, a continent that has battled
deadly viruses such as the H5N1 bird flu and SARS in recent
years, began taking steps over the weekend to ward off a new
flu virus.
    The swine flu virus has killed up to 81 people in Mexico
and infected 11 others in the United States. More than 1,300
are believed to be infected in Mexico.
    Following are some details of how Asian countries are
responding to the crisis and how markets are expected to react:
    ASIAN MARKETS
    Analysts did not think the epidemic would have a dramatic
impact on markets on Monday morning, but warned that if the
epidemic worsens that could change.
    “It’s still too early to say how far and wide this may
spread but investors will be cautious,” said Ben Kwong, chief
operating officer with KGI Asia.
    Patrick Shum, strategist at Karl Thomson Securities, agreed
that investors would be keeping a close eye on developments in
the coming days.
    “There won’t be an immediate significant impact on the
market but if it is anything like SARS, especially coming at a
time when most global economies are in a recession, then
markets will take a hit,” he said.
    CHINA
    China’s quarantine authority an issued emergency notice on
Saturday night requiring people to report flu-like symptoms at
ports of entry when coming from swine flu-affected places. The
ministries of health and agriculture say they are closely
monitoring the situation.
    SINGAPORE
    Singapore’s ministry of health says it is monitoring the
situation closely and has urged medical staff to be on the
alert for any suspect human cases.
    It advised the public to seek immediate medical attention
if they develop symptoms of swine flu within seven days of
travel to California, Texas or Mexico. It urged them to
maintain good hygiene and wash hands frequently, especially
after contact with respiratory secretions. Those who are sick
with respiratory illnesses should avoid crowded areas and wear
masks.
    VIETNAM
    Vietnam launched its disease surveillance system to detect
any suspect cases and was seeking more information from the
World Health Organisation on the disease and ways of
prevention.
    Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the health ministry’s Preventive
Medicine Department, was quoted by the state-run Tuoi Tre
(Youth) newspaper on Sunday saying that the country needed to
watch developments closely as the virus may be spreading in
U.S. states where many people of Vietnamese origin are living.
    SOUTH KOREA
    The government has stepped up quarantine and safety checks
on travellers arriving from the United States and Mexico, as
well as pork imports from these countries.
    An emergency quarantine system is now up and running, with
simple tests conducted on people arriving with flu symptoms at
airports.
    HONG KONG
    Hong Kong has stepped up surveillance at border control
points and travellers found with swine flu symptoms will be
taken to hospitals for further checks.
    Samples taken from people with flu-like symptoms and who
had travelled in the affected places within seven days before
the onset of symptoms will be tested in laboratories.
    “People who develop respiratory illness within seven days
after returning from the affected places should put on a
surgical mask and seek medical consultation from public clinics
and hospitals immediately,” said Thomas Tsang said, controller
of the Centre for Health Protection.
    JAPAN
    Japan’s Narita airport, east of Tokyo, ramped up
temperature checks for travellers from Mexico using
thermographic imaging equipment, which was previously in place
at the airport.
    Japan’s foreign ministry issued an advisory asking those
who were going to Mexico to consider if such trips were
necessary.
    Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that Japan’s farm
ministry had instructed animal quarantine officers to examine
imported live pigs to make sure they were not infected.
    The ministry did not ask for checks on imported pork as it
says cooking kills the virus. It regarded the possibility of
the virus turning up in pork to be low, Kyodo reported.
    THE PHILIPPINES
    Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap ordered more monitoring of
ports of entry to stop the entry of pigs or pork from Mexico
and the United States.
    Yap said there was no outbreak of swine flu in the
Philippines but ordered government agencies to encourage
regular vaccination of hogs against swine influenza.
    MALAYSIA
    Malaysia’s health ministry has begun screening passengers
travelling to and from Mexico at all border points.
 (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh in Hanoi, Rosemarie Francisco in
Manila, Liau Y-Sing in Kuala Lumpur, Miyoung Kim in Seoul,
Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing, Linda Sieg in Tokyo, Parvathy
Ullatil in Hong Kong; Writing by Tan Ee Lyn in Hong Kong;
Editing by Alex Richardson)

 

Latest from NZ

  WELLINGTON, April 26, 2009 (AFP) - A New Zealand school group has been
quarantined after returning from Mexico with flu-like symptoms, health
authorities said Sunday.
    Three teachers and 22 senior students from Rangitoto College in Auckland,
returned to their home country Saturday after a three-week trip to Mexico, the
authorities said.
    The Auckland Regional Public Health Service said some had symptoms of an
influenza-like illness and were being kept in isolation.
    “As a precaution in view of the international situation, preliminary tests
are under way to determine the cause of the illness and to exclude or confirm
swine influenza,” the health service statement said.
    A spokeswoman for the service told AFP results of the tests may be released
later Sunday.
    A new, multi-strain swine flu has flared in Mexico, and is feared to have
killed more than 80 people, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) warning of
“pandemic potential.”
    Radio New Zealand quoted health authorities as saying 13 students and one
teacher from the group were unwell, one student was in hospital and the others
in home isolation.
    The New Zealand foreign ministry has issued a travel health notice for
swine flu in Mexico, California and Texas, and said anyone who has recently
travelled to these areas and developed flu-like symptoms should seek immediate
medical attention.
    The Rangitoto school party returned to New Zealand from Mexico via Los
Angeles.
     The New Zealand health ministry is implementing the early stages of its
pandemic response plan, and is liaising with the WHO and Australian health
officials.
    A New Zealand-based animal diseases consultant, Professor Roger Morris,
said the country had stockpiles of the medication Tamiflu, which he said
appeared to work against the current strain of influenza.

 

Wah piang... if the flu spreads north to US, it will be another major disaster. 

 

Toll now 81 from Sky News

The number of deaths linked to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico has risen to 81, the country's government has announced.

Over 1,300 people are now suspected ill with the rare virus strain which global health experts have warned could become a global epidemic.

All schools will be closed in Mexico City, the surrounding area and the central state of San Luis Potosi until May 6, health minister Jose Angel Cordova said.

"There have been 81 registered deaths which are probably linked to the virus of which only 20 cases have virological checks," Cordova added.

Yesterday, the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak as a public health event of international concern.

The disease has already spread to Texas, California and Kansas.

More to follow...

 

 

 

Update on US from LA Times


Kansas health authorities had confirmed two new cases of swine flu in their state, California has confirmed another case in Imperial County and New York City officials have identified eight probable cases, bringing the U.S. total to 19 likely cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously identified six cases in San Diego and Imperial counties and two cases in Guadalupe County, Texas. The city health department's Public Health Laboratory has completed preliminary screens on nose and throat swabs from nine of the students and found that eight are influenza A. Because they do not match normal human subtypes of influenza A currently in circulation, they are considered probable cases of swine flu.

The samples have been sent to the CDC in Atlanta for confirmation.

All of the cases were mild, and none of the students was hospitalized. The school will be closed Monday as a precaution.

Students at the school had told news outlets that some of them had traveled to Mexico recently, but that has not been confirmed by health officials.

The U.S. cases are in addition to the outbreak in Mexico, which has caused as many as 60 deaths and more than 1,000 infections. U.S. tests on virus samples from 14 Mexican patients confirm that about half of them are swine flu.

The problem in identifying swine flu is that its symptoms are virtually indistinguishable from regular influenza, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of CDC. The only way to be sure an infection is swine flu is through a laboratory test, which takes time.

Because the virus has popped up in so many locations, there is likely to be a larger outbreak if the virus proves to be highly transmissible -- something that has not been demonstrated yet.

"Having found the virus where we have found it, we are likely to find it in many more places," Schuchat said Saturday. "It is clear that this is widespread, which is why we do not think we can contain spread of this virus."

The ability of the virus to spread from person to person means that there is the potential for a pandemic, Dr. Margaret Char, director general of the World Health Organization, said Saturday. But experts noted that any new virus that can be transmitted among humans has such potential, and much more information is needed.

Chan returned to Geneva from the United States to monitor the ongoing swine flu problem and called an emergency meeting Saturday of the agency's influenza experts and consultants. That group said there is not yet enough information to justify raising the agency's alert system to a higher level and imposing travel or other restrictions.

But Chan did declare a "public health emergency" recommending that all nations increase their surveillance for the swine flu virus.

Officials noted that the new virus is susceptible to two of the four antiviral drugs now available and that both Mexico and the United States have ample stocks of the drugs.

CDC officials have prepared a seed stock of the virus that could be used in the manufacture of a vaccine, but said that it is premature to send it to pharmaceutical companies. Preparing a new vaccine would require several months, at best.

 

 

 

Have to wait whether it has spread to Queens.... scary (remind me or Sars)

QUEENS, N.Y. (WPIX) -- The Health Department is monitoring an outbreak of flu at St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows, Queens to see if the students may have come down with the swine flu virus.

As many as 300 students have reported they were suffering from flu-like symptoms.  Some of the students told PIX News they recently visited Mexico.  The flu outbreak forced school officials to cancel an event called "International Night," which was scheduled for Friday night.  A thousand people has been expecting to attend.

There are reports that initial tests on some of the students have come back negative for swine flu and that they may be suffering from a regular strain of the virus unrelated to the those cases from Mexico.

A form of swine flu is suspected of killing as many as 60 people in Mexico and sickened more than a thousand others.  Officials with the Centers for Disease Control have confirmed eight people in the United States have contracted swine flu and will be keeping the American people updated.President Barack Obama is also being updated on the outbreak.

 

Look pandemic:

 

Swine Flu May Be Named Event of ‘International Concern’ by WHO



By Jason Gale

April 25 (Bloomberg) -- The World Health Organization is set to declare the deadly swine flu virus outbreak in Mexico and the U.S. a global concern, potentially prompting travel restrictions, said a person familiar with the matter.

An emergency committee of the WHO in Geneva will declare the outbreak “a public health event of international concern” in a 4 p.m. teleconference today, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting is confidential. In response, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan may raise the level of pandemic alert, which could lead to travel restrictions aimed at curbing the disease’s spread.

“These levels of pandemic alert are all signals for action,” said Malik Peiris, a professor of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, who has studied influenza viruses for more than a decade. “Raising the level of alertness to influenza, especially in returning travelers, would be a relevant thing to do.”

Human-to-human spread of the previously unseen H1N1 swine influenza in Mexico and the U.S. is heightening concern that the virus may spark a pandemic. At least 68 people have died and more than 1,000 have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms in the Mexico City region in the past month, Jose Cordova, Mexico’s Health Minister, told reporters yesterday. The government has shut schools and distributed face masks.

Sari Setiogi, a WHO spokeswoman in Geneva, declined to comment on the agency’s response, saying it will depend on the outcome of today’s meeting.

Closing Theaters

Mexico’s Social Security Institute shut all of the theaters and cultural centers it operates nationwide to avoid spreading the flu strain -- reminiscent of actions implemented during the 2003 SARS outbreak in Asia. Travel curbs imposed there damaged economies throughout the region, where that virus circulated most widely.

In Singapore, where 33 infected people died, gross domestic product shrank 11.4 percent in the second quarter of 2003 because of the severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Swine flu was confirmed in 20 of the deaths so far in Mexico. Of 14 tissue samples tested from Mexico, half were a genetic match with the swine flu reported in eight people in California and Texas, the Atlanta-based Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said.

“We do not know whether this swine flu virus or some other influenza virus will lead to the next pandemic,” Richard Besser, the CDC’s acting director, told reporters yesterday on a teleconference. “Scientists around the world continue to monitor the virus and take its threat seriously.”

Pandemic Threat

The new influenza strain, a conglomeration of genes from swine, bird and human viruses, poses the biggest threat of a large-scale flu pandemic since the emergence of the H5N1 strain that has killed millions of birds and hundreds of people, said William Schaffner, an influenza expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.

“It re-combined to create something totally new,” David Butler-Jones, Canada’s chief public health minister, told reporters yesterday. “How, when, or where it did that I don’t think we know. What it will lead to is impossible to predict.”

WHO’s alert level is at level 3, meaning there is no, or very limited, human-to-human transmission of a potential pandemic virus. Officials at the agency have said the global spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus since 2003 has put the world closer to another influenza pandemic than at any time since 1968, when the last of the previous century’s three pandemics occurred.

Alert System

WHO uses a six-step alert system to tell the world what preparations to take in response to a pandemic. Flu can spread quickly when a new strain emerges because no one has natural immunity and a vaccine takes months to develop. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, which killed as many as 50 million people, began when an avian flu virus jumped to people, doctors said.

Teams of disease investigators have been sent to California and Texas to trace how the malady has spread, and the U.S. offered to send scientists to Mexico, said the CDC’s Besser. U.S. hospitals are being asked to collect samples from patients with flu-like symptoms, said Schaffner, chief of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt, in a telephone interview yesterday.

‘Sense of Urgency’

“They are asking us who work in hospitals to go to our emergency rooms and our pediatric wards to gather specimens and start testing them,” Schaffner said. “This has a sense of urgency about it.”

Mexico’s government has closed schools, museums, movie theaters and libraries in Mexico City and surrounding areas until further notice, according to an e-mail from the National Arts and Culture Council. It’s also handing out free facemasks and extending the deadline for filing taxes until May 31, Cordova said. A million doses of antiviral medicine are available for distribution, he said.

Twenty-four cases, including three deaths, have been reported in San Luis Potosi, in central Mexico, and four cases have been found in Mexicali near the border with the U.S., according to the WHO.

Three main human flu strains -- H3N2, H1N1 and type-B -- circulate and cause 250,000 to 500,000 deaths a year in seasonal epidemics, according to the World Health Organization. Pandemics occur when a novel influenza A-type virus, to which almost no one has natural immunity, emerges and begins spreading.

 

 

TOKYO - SOME Asian nations enforced checks on Saturday on passengers and pork products from Mexico amid fears that its deadly outbreak of swine flu might spread to a continent that has battled hard to contain bird flu.

Japan's biggest international airport stepped up health surveillance, while the Philippines said it may quarantine passengers with fevers who have been to Mexico. Health authorities in Thailand and Hong Kong said they were closely monitoring the situation.

VIDEO Mexico prepares to stop deadly flu (1:25) Worried? Wash your hands WASHINGTON - WORRIED about swine flu? There is one easy way to protect against infection, health experts agree - handwashing. Little can be done to prevent an outbreak of flu from spreading, health experts caution, but they say common sense measures can help individuals protect themselves. ... more

In Mexico, at least 62 people have died from severe pneumonia caused by a flu-like illness, the World Health Organization said. Some of those deaths have been confirmed as a type of swine flu - labeled A/H1N1 - not previously seen in pigs or humans.

At Tokyo's Narita airport - among the world's busiest with more than 96,000 people using it daily - officials installed a device at the arrival gate for flights from Mexico to measure the temperatures of passengers.

'We are increasing health surveillance following the outbreak of swine flu,' said Akira Yukitoki, an official at the airport's quarantine station. He said more than 160 passengers arriving from Mexico on Saturday were screened by the thermographic machine. No one complained of fever or severe coughing.

The airport also plans to put up special signs for passengers going to Mexico, urging them to 'wear masks, wash hands and gargle,' Mr Yukitoki said.

In the Philippines, passengers with fevers who have been to Mexico may be quarantined in government hospitals, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said. The government was also tightening monitoring at all ports to prevent the entry of any hogs or pork from Mexico and the US.

In Hong Kong, health officials said authorities were closely monitoring the swine flu investigation by their US and Mexican counterparts.

'What we have to do now is to see ... whether all cases in Mexico are epidemiologically linked,' said Undersecretary for Food and Health Gabriel Leung. He refused to say whether Hong Kong would implement checks on people arriving from Mexico.

In Thailand, health officials met to discuss the outbreak but have not implemented checks at airports because 'at this moment, there is no advisory from WHO,' said Kumnuan Ungchusak, the director of the Bureau of Epidemiology.

'Our people were alerted,' he said. 'We will monitor the situation day by day.' -- AP