Thanks Graham. Thats a logical assessment of what is reality.

The flu has and always will be mutating to some extent. Every time it does, those in charge give it a new name. The swine flu is now making it debut in the new. Last go around it was the bird flu.. so now they have ppl on the borders watching birds fly by getting paid big bucks. Then it was mad cow disease that some human was told they have...

My personal opinion is that the new media jumps on these diseases just like they jump on every thing else.. with a vengeance until something else takes their attention away from it. They are after the ratings and most of them don't really seem to notice what it does to "real" people's emotions.

In my personal opinion, a hypothetical situation: a journalist could write an article that could cause wide spread panic.. of small or epidemic proportions as a result of said article, and not have a clue why people were reacting in such fear.

I'm not saying (in any way), not to be concerned about the flu, swine, bird or other wise. For those with weakened immune systems the flu can be deadly. Many people have been hospitalized for just the simple flu, let alone all the other names for the different strains of flu that are out there.



My husband is now required to get a flu shot every year because his upper respiratory is challenged, so you may (or may not) want to contact a physician to see if that would help prevent some of the more severe symptoms of this type of flu or see if there is anything that can be done as a preventative.

By all means if you are concerned, then there are numerous products on the market to day to help boost the immune system. Nutrition and healthy bodies are one of the major combatants for fighting off any type of illness.

There is a nasty tasting lichen called usnea that aids in killing harmful bacteria, virus, and fungus. (google it. theres a lot of info on it.) it is not, however, to be mistaken with witch's hair.

www.medicineatyourfeet.com/usneaspp.html


WESTERN FUNCTIONS REPORTED: Antibacterial; antibiotic; antifungal; antiparasitic; antiseptic; as bitters; dermatological aid; eupeptic; general wound healer.

TRADITIONAL CHINESE ENERGETIC FUNCTIONS (~ = extrapolated):
1) Opens the chest~, cleanses the lungs, transforms phlegm~.
2) Removes damp heat.
3) Invigorates blood~.
4) Clears heat and toxins.
5) Clears deficiency heat~, stops bleeding.
***********************************************************************************************************
Here is an article about the swine flu straight from wikipedia.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009...u_outbreak


Swine influenza (also called swine flu, hog flu, and pig flu) refers to influenza caused by those strains of influenza virus, called swine influenza virus (SIV), that usually infect pigs.[1] Swine influenza is common in pigs in the midwestern United States (and occasionally in other states), Mexico, Canada, South America, Europe (including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy), Kenya, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and other parts of eastern Asia.[1]
Transmission of swine influenza virus from pigs to humans is not common and properly cooked pork poses no risk of infection. When transmitted, the virus does not always cause human influenza and often the only sign of infection is the presence of antibodies in the blood, detectable only by laboratory tests. When transmission results in influenza in a human, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People who work with pigs, especially people with intense exposures, are at risk of catching swine flu. However, only about fifty such transmissions have been recorded since the mid-20th Century, when identification of influenza subtypes became possible. Rarely, these strains of swine flu can pass from human to human. In humans, the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general, namely chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort.
The 2009 flu outbreak in humans, known as "swine flu", is due to a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that contained genes most closely related to swine influenza.[2] The origin of this new strain is unknown, however, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reports that this strain has not been isolated in pigs.[3] This strain can be transmitted from human to human,[4] and causes the normal symptoms of influenza.[5]

The 2009 outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) virus is an epidemic of a new strain of influenza virus that was clinically identified in April 2009,[48] and is commonly referred to as swine flu.[49] It is currently a Phase 5 outbreak, one level below an official pandemic.
Although the exact origin of the outbreak is unknown, it was first detected when officials in Mexico and the United States suspected a link between an outbreak of late-season flu cases in Mexico and cases of influenza in Texas and California.[50] Within days, hundreds more suspected cases were discovered in Mexico, with more cases also showing up in the U.S. and several other countries. By late April, officials from the U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO), based in Switzerland, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S., were expressing serious concern about the flu outbreak, worried that it might become a worldwide flu pandemic.[51] As a result, WHO raised its alert level to "Phase 5" out of 6 possible, which it defines as a "signal that a pandemic is imminent".[52] By the end of April, 2009 government across the world had taken emergency measures to slow the transmission of a possible pandemic.[53] At the same time, however, many scientists were reaching a consensus that the epidemic was so far "relatively mild," and believed that it could be less fatal than previous pandemics.[54]
The new strain is an apparent reassortment of four strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1.[55] Analysis by the CDC identified the four component strains as one endemic in humans, one endemic in birds, and two endemic in pigs (swine).[55] However, other scientists have stated that analysis of the 2009 swine flu (A/H1N1) viral genome suggests that all RNA segments are of swine origin.[56] and "this preliminary analysis suggests at least two swine ancestors to the current H1N1, one of them related to the triple reassortant viruses isolated in North America in 1998."[57] One swine strain was widespread in the United States, the other in Eurasia.[55]
Worldwide the common human H1N1 influenza virus affects millions of people every year, according to WHO officials, and "these annual epidemics result in about three to five million cases of severe illness, and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths" annually.[58] In industrialized countries most of these annual deaths occur in people aged 65 or older.[58] By May 2, some pigs in Canada were diagnosed with H1N1.[59] Although some influenza strains can spread between species, the influenza virus is killed by normal cooking procedures, so there is no risk of infection from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.[60]

Hey and I will send you a sample to get you hooked.
Blessings
Linda