Thursday, April 30, 2009

Flap's Dentistry Blog Links April 30, 2009

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What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu. At a news briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to repeatedly refer to the flu as the "H1N1 virus." "This is not a food-borne illness, virus. It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that's not what this is about," Vilsack said. Israel has already rejected the name swine flu, and opted to call it "Mexico flu." Jewish dietary laws forbid eating pork.

The commandant of the Marine Corps says one of his troops may have swine flu and that 39 in all are being confined until tests come back. General James Conway says an initial test indicated one Marine in California may have the illness. Officials are awaiting another test on that Marine. In the meantime, he and his roommate are quarantined and confined to quarters at the Twenty-Nine Palms base in California. Conway says the roommate is not showing any symptoms.

France will ask the European Union to suspend all flights to Mexico, source of the swine flu outbreak. The move follows confirmation of new cases in Germany, Austria, Britain and Spain. Many, if not all, of those infected have recently been to Mexico. French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said France would push for the flight ban at a meeting of EU health ministers on Thursday.

The Egyptian government says it has begun slaughtering all pigs in the country as a precautionary measure against the possible spread of swine flu. The Health Ministry says the slaughter of the country's 300,000 pigs will begin immediately. The ministry has stated several times that there are no cases swine flu in the country, however neighboring Israel has reported two.

A child in Texas has become the first fatality from swine flu in the United States, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. "I can confirm the very sad news out of Texas that a child has died of the H1N1 virus," the CDC's Dr. Richard Besser said. "As a parent and a pediatrician, my heart goes out to the family." He said the child was about 2 years old. Six of the 64 confirmed swine flu cases in the United States have been reported in Texas, according to the CDC. Besser said the CDC is not changing its recommendations as a result of the confirmed swine flu death.

1 comment:

  1. Here are CDC guidelines for health professionals regarding swine flu...or "Mexican flu". Good to know. Dentists and others just have to keep aware.

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