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H1N1 Swine Flu Map

UPDATE! The maps are now being updated at http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/ and the embedded maps below are no longer being updated.

Remember, wash your hands frequently. Avoid public places until this passes. What will you buy in preparation for the swine flu? Be sure to follow djuggler on Twitter.


View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map


View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

Map Legend: Pink markers are suspected cases, Purple markers are confirmed cases, if there is no black dot someone has died, yellow markers indicate tests came back negative. Map created by Niman of Biomedical Research in Pittsburgh, PA USA.

See also: HealthMap – Global disease alert map. Mashable explains how to track swine flu online.

Update: US declares public health emergency for swine flu

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. declared a public health emergency Sunday to deal with the emerging new swine flu, much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes. [Source, CourierPress/Associated Press]

Update: U.S. prepares for possible swine flu epidemic as global cases rise

(CNN) — The United States stepped up preparations for a possible swine flu epidemic, and Canada confirmed its first cases on Sunday as researchers worked to determine how contagious the virus could be. [Source, CNN Health]

Update: Swine flu: Twitter’s power to misinform
Update: Another map which actually shows the number for each area affected. The data is by The Guardian and looks to be lagging behind Niman who just really seems to be on top of it.
Update 27Apr2009: Swine Flu in Mexico Linked to Poorly Managed Factory Farms

Investigations now reveal that the swine flu epidemic that began in Mexico and spread worldwide is probably connected to pollution caused by unsanitary pig breeding farms in the region. [Source, ecoworldly, Swine Flu in Mexico Linked to Poorly Managed Factory Farms]

Update 28APR2009: Swine flu creates controversy on Twitter (I don’t agree with the tone of this article. To me it sounds like John D. Sutter doesn’t get Twitter.)
CNN has a map!

The World Health Organization on Monday raised its pandemic alert … from level three to level four on the WHO’s six-level threat scale means the world body has determined the virus is capable of significant human-to-human transmission — a major step toward a flu pandemic [Source, CNN, WHO raises pandemic alert level; more swine flu cases feared]

Update: Obama Seeks to Ease Fears on Swine Flu – "the president said there was ‘not a cause for alarm.’"
Swine Flu in Mexico- Timeline of Events
The dirty farm in Mexico which is the apparent source of the flu is 50% owned by American company Smithfield.
Update: Sebastian blogs from Mexico.
Update: Interesting sickness tracker based upon Twitter references: Knoxville, Nashville, and USA. Thanks to Michael Silence and Ben Cunningham of Taxing TN for the link.
New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden reports many hundreds of school children sick with suspected cases of Swine Flu.
Update: Cuba closes borders to travel from Mexico. Swine Flu
Update: First person in Mexico with Swine Flu identified.

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Spring is here! Stay outside!

Yellow jacketYellow jacketAs a home owner, I have frequent battles with nature. Mother Nature’s latest assault appears to be a yellow jacket nest near the house. Not the cute tiny yellow jackets that make you curse loudly when you run over their nest with the lawn mower but these are kind that need Rico, Dizzy and Rasczak to show the Orkin man how it’s done. We’ve had 3 of these in the house in the past week:

I know their nests typically have 2 entrances. They return to their nests at dusk. They fly faster than I can run. They tag you with a pheromone when they sting that alerts the rest of the nest that you are a bad guy. They don’t die when they sting like honey bees. And traps near the entrance work as well or better than gasoline down the holes but take longer. One evening this week we will do battle.

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My Eyes Hurt

The children have been with the grandparents all day. Cathy and I are home alone and instead of joining the rest of Knoxville at the Rossini Festival, and believe me they were all there!, we stared at our respective computers all day. It was productive but stomachs beg for food and my eyes need a serious break from the screen.

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After the Dogwood Parade There Was Music

We watched Sarah march in Knoxville’s Dogwood Parade last night. Afterwards we watched Brenden James Wright and The Wrongs (MySpace) play on Market Square.

I was introduced to The Wrongs when my brother-in-law turned Cathy onto Luther Wright and The Wrongs’ (MySpace) Rebuild the Wall, a bluegrass cover of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. It’s excellent!

A little sidenote to the architects of Market Square: As much as I miss the old pavalion, the new stage is very nice; however, your permanent poles with the stage lighting block the view of the stage from most seating unless you are positioned directly in the middle of the audience. Couldn’t they have been swung more to the side?