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4/24/06
The NBC show Dateline for 4/23/06 said that the Department of Health and Human Services predicts that in a severe flu pandemic 90 million will become sick, 45 million will become sick enough to require hospitalization, and 1.9 million will die. See the Dateline website.
4/17/06
Made changes to main page (www.fluviruspandemic.info/): "there is no study that proves that masks _alone_ prevent the spread of flu - see below [for the other measures you need to take]", and "you can measure 30 seconds [for hand washing] by _slowly_ singing the ABC song once of "Happy Birthday" twice."
4/12/06
Added link to the PBS's website on the influenza pandemic of 1918 on the "links" page.
4/7/06
(Release date 4/6/06) A human flu pandemic in Asia could reduce economic activity by $300 billion and trigger a global recession - BBC World News. A swan found dead in Scotland tests positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu - BBC World News.
3/30/06
First bird flu vaccine only protects half of people who get it. Story here.
3/21/06
I added a link to the links page. It is a webpage with a picture of the flu virus.
3/13/06
Added link to a web page with a picture of the bird flu virus.
3/1/06
A dead German cat had bird flu. Tests are being done to see if bird flu was the highly pathogenic form. Read the story here. If you're a veterinarian, read this story and this story and this story and this story and this story and this story. Here's another story.
2/25/06
France reports bird flu found in commercial poultry. Read the story here.
2/20/06
Bird flu predicted to emerge again and again. Read the story here.
2/18/06
Bird flu hits France, India, and Egypt. Read the story here. Read more bird flu-related stories at the Bird Flu Section Front towards the bottom of the page.
2/16/06
The story referenced in the entry for 2/14/06 can be seen here.
2/14/06
Germany, Iran, and Austria report bird flu in wild birds. See the story here. See the section "More from bird flu" near the bottom of the page for more stories.
2/11/06
Humans catch bird flu in Italy (and more). Read the Reuters story here. See more bird flu related stories at the Bird Flu Section Front towards the bottom of the page.
2/8/06
Bird flu is found in Africa. Associated press story here.
1/23/06
Check out the Germ Guardian. It should be good for businesses and other places that have lots of visitors.
1/22/06
The maker of Lysol claims that it kills 99.5% of flu virions (virus particles) on surfaces.
1/15/06
Two medicines commonly used to treat the flu have been found to be ineffective. See the Associated Press story here. This means that there will be less Tamiflu available if there's a pandemic.
Mid-January
I heard from a relative's healthcare provider that this year's flu shot was ineffective. My psychiatrist also caught the flu even though he had gotten a flu shot. He had had visitors from abroad and thought that the pandemic had started and he was it's second victim.
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