In a hot lab in the center of Lyon, space-suited virologists want to create a superflu as contagious as H1N1 and as lethal as H5N1. Why? So nature doesn't get there first.
posted by drdanger on Nov 15, 2009 - 51 comments

In 2010, Obama will have a miserable year, NATO may lose in Afghanistan, the UK gets a regime change, China needs to chill, India's factories will overtake its farms, Europe risks becoming an irrelevant museum, the stimulus will need an exit strategy, the G20 will see a challenge from the "G2", African football will unite Korea, conflict over natural resources will grow, Sarkozy will be unloved and unrivalled, the kids will come together to solve the world's problems (because their elders are unable), technology will grow ever more ubiquitous, we'll all charge our phones via USB, MBAs will be uncool, the Space Shuttle will be put to rest, and Somalia will be the worst country in the world. And so the Tens begin.

The Economist: The World in 2010. [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Nov 14, 2009 - 60 comments

Stormy the ferret has died. While the video accompanying that report claims dogs and cats are safe from H1N1 the Iowa Department of Public Health says otherwise. A cat in Iowa is confirmed with swine flu. Turkeys and pigs have also gotten it. The USDA is now releasing confirmed and presumptive cases in domestic animals (PDF).
posted by cjorgensen on Nov 4, 2009 - 44 comments

Whether it is seasonal flu or novel H1N1, people have been touting the need to wash hands often. Some evidence suggests that since the virus is airborne, washing hands may not be the most effective strategy to prevent it. This evidence is hard to swallow by some.
posted by reverenddrjice on Oct 3, 2009 - 58 comments

First Nations (aboriginal) communities in Canada often have levels of squalor and health outcomes comparable to developing nations [PDF]. Abuse of alcohol and other drugs is rife. Generally low health care levels in these communities has led to outbreaks of H1N1 (swine flu). While the distribution of hand sanitizer might help control these outbreaks, the Canadian government is hesitant to do so out of fear that the alcohol-based sanitizer will be ingested. Some argue that this is nothing more than continued paternalism that has reduced the First peoples of Canada to their present state.
posted by modernnomad on Jun 24, 2009 - 63 comments

The World Health Organization, which had recently warned of the danger of swine flu, has now raised the pandemic threat level to 5, indicating a pandemic is "imminent". The WHO chief was quoted as saying "all of humanity" is threatened by the virus
posted by crayz on Apr 29, 2009 - 337 comments

Experts at WHO and elsewhere believe that the world is now closer to another influenza pandemic than at any time since 1968. WHO uses a series of six phases of pandemic alert... The world is presently in phase 3: a new influenza virus subtype is causing disease in humans, but is not yet spreading efficiently and sustainably among humans. The outbreak of a variant of swine flu led federal officials to close Mexico City-area schools indefinitely - the first such shutdown since a devastating 1985 earthquake. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu on Apr 25, 2009 - 297 comments