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Japan to start developing swine flu vaccine
CDC sends Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases a sample of the new type of flu strain, and NIID will begin to work on a modified swine flu virus, then distribute the virus to four Japanese vaccine makers and institutions
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PrimerDesign to develop DNA tests for Mexican strain of swine flu
U.K. company races against the clock to produce the world’s first DNA test for the Mexican strain of swine flu
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Computer simulation of swine flu worst case in U.S. projects 1,700 cases
Computer simulation of worst-case swine flu epidemic in the United States projects 1,700 cases in four weeks from now; affected locations largely correspond to major transportation hubs in the country
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CDC shipping new flu test kit
CDC is shipping new test kits to the states to expedite testing of people with flu-like symptoms; also, a lab with the new test has been set up in Mexico
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Chertoff: biological weapons biggest terrorist threat
Chertoff: “The natural ingredients of a biological threat are not difficult to come by, and it’s just a question of the know-how in terms of fabricating them to make a weapon”
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Airport flu scanners as global health alert increases
Australian government orders all airports to use thermal imaging systems to detect passengers who may be infected with swine flu; the scanners can detect if a passenger has a raised body temperature
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Aussie company improves food pasteurizing
Normally processors would have to use preservatives or heat the product and this inevitably changes the taste and destroys some nutrients; new method — called high-pressure processing (HPP) — uses pressure instead
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Travel ban will not meaningfully slow spread of epidemic
Computer modelers say that travel restrictions will do more harm (economic damage) than good (slow the spread of the flu); prevention and treatment are better measures
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Lancet: Pandemic closer but not inevitable
Prestigious British health journal said “The world has moved closer towards a pandemic, but it is not yet inevitable”
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US-CERT warns of swine flu-related phishing scams
The swine flu outbreak is about two weeks old, but criminals are already e-mailing millions of phishing e-mails which purport to offer the latest information about the disease
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Skin-patch deliver flu vaccine
Researchers at Emory and Georgia Tech develop a microneedle skin patch that delivers flue vaccine; the patches contain an array of stainless-steel microneedles coated with an inactivated influenza virus
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Current swine flu is the inevitable result of modern farming methods
The current swine flu outbreak is not yet two weeks old and conspiracy theorists already ascribe it to genetic engineering by clever bioterrorists; the truth is more prosaic: there are more than one billion pigs and more than 70 billion chickens raised every year for human consumption; modern, industrial animal farming methods make the creation of new virus types — what scientists call “reassortment” — inevitable
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Mexico complains to Israel about new name for swine flu
Israel’s deputy health minister suggests that, in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, the name “swine flu” should be changed to “Mexican flu”; Mexico launched official protest with Israel, saying the the name Mexican flu was “bothersome and worrying”
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Virulent H5N1 mistakenly mixed with H3N2
Austrian branch of vaccine company Baxter sent a batch of ordinary human H3N2 flu to Avir lab, also in Austria; a Czech affiliate of Avir conducted tests on ferrets, which died; investigation shows that the H3N2 batch contained live virulent H5N1 virus
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WHO: Swine flu could become pandemic
The growing number of swine flu in Mexico, and the spread of the disease in the United States, lead the World Health Organization to declare the virus “a public health emergency of international concern”
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The long view
We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
Nine former leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who served as directors or acting directors under Republican and Democratic administrations, serving under presidents from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trrump, argue that HHS Secretary Roert F. Kennedy Jr. poses a clear and present danger to the health of Americans. He has placed anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists at top HHS positions, and he appears to be guided by a hostility to science and a belief in bizarre, unscientific approaches to public health.