Monday, May 02, 2005

AOL Treats Fla. Emergency E-Mails As Spam (AP). AP - Emergency managers in Indian River County, hard-hit by hurricanes last year, thought the best way to get out weather alerts was by e-mail — until they learned that AOL was tagging the messages as spam. [Yahoo! News: Technology] An important issue when it comes to emergency preparedness and communicating with the worried well  - - and, it requires coordination at lots of levels. Ironically enough, the firewalls that we have to protect us work against the internet and IM as the tool for emergency communication when we need it.  Solution?  We probably all need to have our children and their "open network" lack of firewalls and privacy as the primary emergenency contact point.  They would get the message.. But, then would they do anything with it :-)  Based on how well they take messages from people who call me on the phone when I'm not here and they answer, I would say no. 3:00:10 PM    comment []

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Yahoo! Alerts Yahoo! News - My Alerts - Edit Alert Thursday, April 14, 2005 2:15 PM PDT Avian flu could kill 70 million: expert The Hindu News Wed, 13 Apr 2005 2:38 PM PDT LYON (FRANCE): Avian flu b caught directly from birds, and which kills in seven cases out of 10 b could suddenly sweep through the human population, killing 70 million people, according to World Health Organisation estimates, a Nobel laureate warned on Tuesday. Avian flu continues to spread in south-east Asia Australian Broadcasting Corporation Thu, 14 Apr 2005 7:10 AM PDT TONY JONES: Health officials in the United States are trying to discover how thousands of vials containing a deadly flu virus were sent in the mail to laboratories around the world. The World Health Organisation warned the accident creates a risk of a global pandemic if the virus escaped. Vietnam Develops Action Plan For Bird Flu Prevention Bernama Thu, 14 Apr 2005 1:57 AM PDT HANOI, April 14 (Bernama) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has devised an action plan to prevent and combat type A of the avian flu caused by the H5N1 virus. Vietnam Finds HIV Carrier Infected with Bird Flu Reuters via Yahoo! News Thu, 14 Apr 2005 5:28 AM PDT A 21-year-old woman has been infected by both the deadly HIV/AIDS virus and bird flu, the first such case in Vietnam, health officials said Thursday. Vietnam woman infected with bird flu and HIV MSNBC Thu, 14 Apr 2005 7:29 AM PDT A 21-year-old woman has been infected by both the deadly HIV/AIDS virus and bird flu, the first such case in Vietnam, health officials said. EU bans imports of feathers, pet birds from N. Korea over bird flu Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News Thu, 14 Apr 2005 10:03 AM PDT _ The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, announced Thursday it is banning the import of feathers and pet birds effective immediately in the wake of a bird flu outbreak in the Asian country. Bird flu identified in Indonesian pigs New Scientist Thu, 14 Apr 2005 8:23 AM PDT As pigs can host both human and bird flu strains, experts fear the animals could act as a "mixing vessel" for a human pandemic strain Cambodia Reports Another Human Death from Bird Flu U.S. State Department Thu, 14 Apr 2005 12:07 PM PDT Cambodia has reported its third death from bird flu, bringing the total in Southeast Asia to 50, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) April 12. The virus that killed an 8-year-old girl from Kampot province was confirmed to be H5N1, a highly infectious strain that has claimed other human lives in Thailand and Vietnam, and has killed more than 100 million birds in the region. The WHO South Korea, North Korea to Meet in Gaesong for Bird Flu Talks Bloomberg.com Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:18 PM PDT April 14 (Bloomberg) -- North Korean and South Korean officials will meet in the North Korean city of Gaesong to discuss ways to help the communist nation fight an outbreak of bird flu, the south's Ministry of Unification said. Vietnam reports first case of bird flu in HIV-positive patient AP via Yahoo! Asia News Thu, 14 Apr 2005 2:49 AM PDT A 21-year-old HIV-positive woman has contracted bird flu in the first such case in Vietnam, a health official said Thursday. See more news stories that match my keyword You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. 5:00:43 PM    comment []

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Labs Asked to Destroy Flu Strain. Several thousand labs, mainly in the U.S., are being asked to destroy a flu strain that was accidentally included in test kits sent to them. Officials are concerned that a lab accident could release the strain, but the outbreak is only theoretical and nearly half the U.S. population is immune. [NPR Programs: All Things Considered] 4:57:38 PM    comment []

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Bioterror Victims: Wait to Exhale. People's breath could provide early clues about whether they've been infected in a terrorism attack and might even let doctors identify individuals destined to become Typhoid Mary-style 'superspreaders.' By Randy Dotinga. [Wired News] 8:32:35 AM    comment []

Monday, March 28, 2005

Russian Scientists Join Effort to Track Avian Flu. Russian scientists are making a U.S.-sponsored visit to American influenza labs this month to learn more about tracking emerging flu viruses. Flu experts hope the Russians will fill a crucial gap in scientists' understanding of how killer flu viruses spread. [NPR Programs: All Things Considered] 6:42:25 PM    comment []

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

True Toll of Avian Flu Remains a Mystery. There are signs that the disease's death rate is much lower than previously suggested — although still high enough to kill many millions of people. By By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, M.D.. [NYT > Health] 11:18:12 AM    comment []

Sunday, March 13, 2005

If you're not already panicked enough about the "overdue" killer flu pandemic, Guardian science editor Robin McKie offers a new periodic cause for alarm. Every 62 million years, the species of Earth suffer a mass extinction: After analysing the eradication of millions of ancient species, scientists have found that a mass extinction is due any moment now. Their research has shown that every 62 million years -- plus or minus 3m years -- creatures are wiped from the planet's surface in massive numbers. I love the use of "any moment now" alongside a prediction with a three-million-year margin of error. [Workbench] 5:48:22 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 Judy Smith. Last update: 5/2/2005; 3:00:15 PM.