Oink.

For internet addicts who want to keep tabs on swine flu developments the Center for Disease Control has a Twitter Feed to provide you with up to the minute facts, stats and reminders.

For example, you CANNOT catch swine flu from eating pork.

See black people? Don’t say I never gave you nuffin.

For the more geeky among us Paul Revere over at Effect Measure demystifies various aspects of the outbreak/ possible pandemic by keeping us informed,  translating all the medical jargon, reducing confusion over common terms, and explaining the scientific basis of how the treatment works.

h/t to SciencePunk

  • I’ve seen way too many ‘lips that touch swine will never touch mine’ statuses on Facebook and Twitter. I don’t get what the deal is with black people and not eating pork.

    I do have a question: on the Cable News Gives You Diseases to Panic About Scale (which starts at meningitis, slides up to West Nile Virus, and ends at SARS) where does Swine Flu land?

  • In St. Vincent we have diplomatic relationships with Mexico and students who are there on scholarship. They normally return in the summer. I don’t know if they will be allowed to, and if they are I don’t know what that may mean for us here should we experience an outbreak.

    Health care here is just above third-world standards…we can’t handle a major public health emergency.

    My brother is currently in Venezuela too…and while I know that’s far from Mexico I’m thinking about people travelling and stuff.

    It’s fair to say I’m pretty worried. Not panicked…but worried.

  • ladyfresshh

    I would like to add since I had a visit to the dr today and asked out of curiosity and got way more information than i bargained for(the dr’s and nurses are going nutty over all the phone calls basically). The tests, even if you decide to go to your dr, are not something that your dr/hosp can obtain in a reasonable amount of time(the NY cases/tests were sent to albany and in turn sent to ATL/CDC). Most of those patients were better by the time they got the results. so… There will be no ‘just in case’ vaccines at the moment.

    (…and in case you wonder why the hell i was at my physician’s office today…i have allergies which developed into a sinus infection…. *runs away with only NY supply of swine vaccine* laters bitches!)

  • -k-

    I’m with Shani. We did this with Chicken Rabies not long ago. I remember my little brother not being allowed to leave a European airport on a middle school trip to Spain during the Mad Cow ordeal. And there was the Cipro rush when everyone was convinced that they were going to die of anthrax. Everyone stopped eating tomatoes for several months less than a year ago. And on and on and on and on and on.

    Insert something about Chicken Little and/or the Boy Who Cried Wolf. I trust and assume that the people who know how to deal with the situation are doing their best to study and control it. If it becomes a pandemic, man, that will suck. Until such a time arrives, or at least unless the situation becomes considerably worse than it is right now, I feel like the widespread panic that every media outlet everywhere seems to be doing its best to foment is needless and silly.

  • Scott

    Joe Biden must now have a degree in public health b/c he is advising that we all stay off planes and trains. Funny that we should avoid mass transit but we should not close down the border. Maybe Joe should go back to his undisclosed location and remove his foot from his mouth.

    Actually, I think this is way overblown. If more folks would take basic hygiene measures like hand washing we wouldn’t have so many problems.