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(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other experts have rejected a report that a new strain of the novel H1N1 influenza virus has been identified in a Brazilian patient.

By Craig Hedberg, PhD

(CIDRAP News) – The foodborne disease surveillance system seems to be under siege. A nearly continuous series of large, multistate outbreaks of Salmonella have been associated with unexpected food vehicles over the past 3 years. Several of these investigations stretched on for weeks under the glare of increasing public anxiety over uncertain identification of the source.

(CIDRAP News) – One byproduct of the pandemic of novel H1N1 influenza is increased evidence of the extent to which "seasonal" flu viruses stick around in the summertime.

Feds eye schools as potential flu vaccination sites
US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that schoolchildren may be a top priority if federal officials decide to use novel H1N1 flu vaccines and that children might be immunized at school, the Associated Press (AP) reported today. Sebelius is meeting with school superintendents to ask them to collaborate on plans for possibly using schools for mass vaccination sites.

World novel flu count exceeds 35,000

(CIDRAP News) – As the school year winds down for most students, and with it the threat of school-related illness clusters, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has its sights set on preventing the spread of the novel H1N1 virus at another setting where kids congregate: summer camps.

(CIDRAP News) – On the heels of yesterday's pandemic declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today urged businesses to review their pandemic plans to make sure they're flexible enough to respond to a moderate or severe pandemic.

Global H1N1 flu count closes in on 30,000

(CIDRAP News) – A well-known risk-communication expert said the World Health Organization (WHO) acted wisely in delaying its declaration of an influenza pandemic until yesterday, but he simultaneously expressed concern that the move may lead to complacency about the situation.

(CIDRAP News) – At almost the same moment today that the World Health Organization announced recognition of an influenza pandemic, researchers from Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States declared that the novel H1N1 virus responsible has been circulating undetected in humans for months—and that its components have been present in pigs for at least a decade.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization's (WHO's) pandemic declaration today isn't a surprise and won't affect the United States' response to the spread of the novel flu virus, which is already aggressive, officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

By raising its pandemic alert level to phase 6 today, The World Health Organization (WHO) has put every continent, country, organization, and individual on official notice. The critical wake-up call has sounded; no more pressing the pause button.

(CIDRAP News) – After delaying action for weeks as the novel H1N1 influenza virus took hold in far-flung parts of the globe, the World Health Organization (WHO) today declared a full-fledged pandemic, formally recognizing that the virus is becoming a global contagion.

Jun 11, 2009

Jun 10, 2009

The World Health Organization's (WHO's) count of novel H1N1 influenza cases reached 26,563 today, an increase of 1,275 since yesterday, Dr. Keiji Fukuda reported at a news briefing from Geneva. The death toll increased by 1, to 140, while the number of affected countries stayed the same at 73. Fukuda is the WHO's assistant director-general for health security and the environment.[Canwest News Service story]

An official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that health experts are closely monitoring novel H1N1 influenza infections in Canada's Inuit populations, following reports that the communities are seeing more than their share of severe cases.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is getting "very close" to declaring that a novel H1N1 influenza pandemic has arrived, but the agency wants to spend more time preparing the world for that step so it won't cause panic, a WHO official said today.

(CIDRAP News) – Government officials and researchers may have underestimated the potential role of pigs as "mixing vessels" for influenza viruses and the importance of swine surveillance for identifying new pandemic threats, veterinary experts from Mexico asserted recently.

Jun 8, 2009