New strain of flu in Mexico and parts of the U.S.

[Husky_mom]

thank you for thinking of us... ((hugs))...

we are ok... so far... and hope to stay that way... hubby has been vaccinated as he`s in the middle of everything down there... hoping he doesn`t gets it or doesn`t gets to be a carrier as he comes next weekend...

up here so far we`ve got no new cases... tehre were about 18 or so.. but back from december... and now they are relating them to this new ordeal...

there have been over 1000 cases.. and about 100 deaths.. ...

supposedly... as what I`ve read... a pig can mutate flu strains... so he can get flu viruses from birds and humans and mutate them into new "versions" that can go back to humans.. ..

schools have been closed until may 6th... all public venues have closed also... movies, recreation parks, malls, theaters...etc...

let`s hope this ends soon and with no more casualties...

[lvpets2002]

Thank You Isabelle for Reporting in that you & the family is all ok.. Oh I thought & worried about you & family all weekend.. Tell Hubby & you all make sure to wear your mask & do what the medics say.. Keep us informed ok.. Its a bad bad virus.. I am so saddened to read of all the deaths.. God Bless You All..

thank you for thinking of us... ((hugs))...

we are ok... so far... and hope to stay that way... hubby has been vaccinated as he`s in the middle of everything down there... hoping he doesn`t gets it or doesn`t gets to be a carrier as he comes next weekend...

up here so far we`ve got no new cases... tehre were about 18 or so.. but back from december... and now they are relating them to this new ordeal...

there have been over 1000 cases.. and about 100 deaths.. ...

supposedly... as what I`ve read... a pig can mutate flu strains... so he can get flu viruses from birds and humans and mutate them into new "versions" that can go back to humans.. ..

schools have been closed until may 6th... all public venues have closed also... movies, recreation parks, malls, theaters...etc...

let`s hope this ends soon and with no more casualties...

[Husky_mom]

as if it wasn´t enough.. hubby just called to say they got evacuated from the building as there just had a quake...

we don´t have quakes here... so he called to say he was fine but it felt awful... poor him ... he jokingly told me there were a lot of lobsters on the street...

[Daisy and Delilah]

Isabelle: I will keep the thoughts and prayers coming that you and your family stay safe. An earthquake?? OMG!! What is this world coming to?

[lvpets2002]

Oh Crap Isabelle= A EarthQuake .. OMG thats just Horrible.. You & your family stay safe ok.. Lots of Prayers & PT Vibes being sent..

[Husky_mom]

until may 6th.. many states have closed schools and now my state has also come to that... starting @ 2pm TODAY...

all mass events are also cancelled... the national olympics that was scheduled for this week was also cancelled (my dad is the president of the bowling)... so until further notice... we´ll be secluded... we´ll wait to see if works are also suspended...

[Karen]

Oh, Isabel, we will be keeping you and your husband and your community in our prayers. Thank you for keeping us updated!

[Barbara]

The news have been here all over the place as well. The virus is a new mutation that managed to cross the barrier between pigs and humans. Flu viruses are very flexible, so they mutate often and of course it becomes very dangerous when they can cross that barrier.
It happened with the avian flu before but pigs are more likely even as they are mammals and closer to us than birds. This is not the first and definitely not the last flu virus to be introduced from another species.
Up to now there is no vaccination as the virus is new. The development of a vaccine will take some months. While WHO recommends flu vaccination especially for the elderly, this existing vaccination will not yet help against this new virus.
However we heard here that the flu caused by the new virus responds well to modern flu meds.
We heard that even in Mexico it is not yet clear whether all of the people who died were hit by the new virus. Per year some 100.000 people die in the world of just "normal" flu- which is bad enough.
So- it is all very sad and a reason for lots and lots of caution but it is not yet a reason to panic.
And Karen is right: we should wash our hands, maybe not shake them (a German problem ) and avoid masses of people where the droplets can travel very well from person to person.
Sending all my best wishes to Isabel and family who are so close to the place where this virus started it's dangerous journey.