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WHO issues pandemic influenza surveillance standards http://t.co/SSBuWFQC #influenza #flu WHO issues pandemic influenza surveillance standards http://t.co/SSBuWFQC #influenza #flu Link - Trackbacks

MIT models which airports are most likely to spread disease http://t.co/PGsuo3Jg Public health crises of the past decade — such as the 2003 SARS outbreak, which spread to 37 countries and caused about 1,000 deaths, and the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic that killed about 300,000 people worldwide — have heightened awareness that new viruses or bacteria could spread quickly across the globe, aided by air travel. While epidemiologists and scientists who study complex network systems — such as contagion patterns and information spread in social networks — are working to create mathematical models that describe the worldwide spread of disease, to date these models have focused on the final stages of epidemics, examining the locations that ultimately develop the highest infection rates. But a new study by researchers in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) shifts the focus to the first few days of an epidemic, determining how likely the 40 largest U.S. airports are to influence the spread of a contagious disease originating in their home cities. This new approach could help determine appropriate measures for containing infection in specific geographic areas and aid public health officials in making decisions about the distribution of vaccinations or treatments in the earliest days of contagion. Unlike existing models, the new MIT model incorporates variations in travel patterns among individuals, the geographic locations of airports, the disparity in interactions among airports, and waiting times at individual airports to create a tool that could be used to predict where and how fast a disease might spread. Read more at MIT News: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/spread-of-disease-in-airports-0723.html Animation courtesy Juanes Research Group - http://juanesgroup.mit.edu/ Link - Trackbacks

Big Data In 2020: More Info, More Problems http://t.co/co3lxlI3 Big data--which powers everything from Netflix recommendations to fraud alerts--is changing the way we live. But is that a good thing? In the latest Pew Internet/Elon University survey, 53% of a handpicked group of “Internet experts, observers and stakeholders“ said big data would produce an overall positive effect by the year 2020. Meanwhile, 39% said it would have an overall negative effect (8% didn’t answer). Many who said big data would have a positive influence on the future pointed to its potential to solve diverse problems. "There is value to be found in this data, value in our newfound publicness,” argued Jeff Jarvis, the author of What Would Google Do?. “Google's founders have urged government regulators not to require them to quickly delete searches because, in their patterns and anomalies, they have found the ability to track the outbreak of the flu before health officials could and they believe that by similarly tracking a pandemic, millions of lives could be saved.” [...] Prof. Janna Anderson, an author of the report, tells Fast Company that the statistical split of positive and negative outlooks isn’t that important. Though respondents were forced to pick sides, many of them said that they thought the future of big data would likely have both positive and negative elements. Plus, she says, a ruling on the future of big data isn’t the point of the survey. “People generally tend to build the future according to what opportunities they see ahead,” Anderson says.“[The survey] allows a lot of issues to be addressed now in positive ways that can build a better future.” Link - Trackbacks

Michele Bachmann: Democrats = Swine Flu Pandemic http://t.co/pYz5SYWE Michele Bachmann is at it again: Attributing flu pandemics to Democratic presidents. Bachmann did an interview with the right-wing Pajamas Media, and had this to say: "I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter," said Bachmann. "And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence." As the Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages points out, Bachmann has the 1970s flu outbreak all wrong. It happened in 1976 when Gerald Ford was in office. This also shows just how shallow Bachmann's historical understanding is. She could have easily also referred back to the infamous 1918 Spanish flu pandemic -- Woodrow Wilson was president at that time, don't you know! (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/bachmann-swine-flu-happens-under-dem-presidents.php) Link - Trackbacks

Kenneth H. Mayer, M.D.: Reflections on a Pandemic: From Despair to Hope http://t.co/k9s7fo9c Kenneth H. Mayer, M.D.: Reflections on a Pandemic: From Despair to Hope http://t.co/k9s7fo9c Link - Trackbacks

AFD Blog `MIT: Contagion Dynamics Of International Air Travel' #Flu #Pandemic #Contagion http://t.co/4IpIt45a AFD Blog `MIT: Contagion Dynamics Of International Air Travel' #Flu #Pandemic #Contagion http://t.co/4IpIt45a Link - Trackbacks

Kids taking Twitter shots like it's bird flu pandemic. Shit is so pathetic. Sweet ass mu'fuka, what you diabetic? Kids taking Twitter shots like it's bird flu pandemic. Shit is so pathetic. Sweet ass mu'fuka, what you diabetic? Link - Trackbacks

Following the breaking news today that Baxter International, Inc. (a U.S. drug company) shipped live avian influenza... http://t.co/sRkuHZTZ To be able to view this link, please enable JavaScript in your Internet Link - Trackbacks

New model of disease contagion ranks US airports in terms of influence http://t.co/bIvL1pV8 (expect Heathrow to emerge victorious however) Airports in New York, Los Angeles and Honolulu are judged likeliest to play a significant role in the growth of a pandemic. Link - Trackbacks

No one’s sure when the next flu pandemic will come – but it will come: http://t.co/psagfYBN No one’s sure when the next flu pandemic will come – but it will come: http://t.co/psagfYBN Link - Trackbacks

No one’s sure when the next flu pandemic will come – but it will come: http://t.co/psagfYBN No one’s sure when the next flu pandemic will come – but it will come: http://t.co/psagfYBN Link - Trackbacks

I uploaded a @YouTube video http://t.co/l8wmJ8Xo Left 4 Dead 2, Touhou Team 3: Urban Flight (2), The Rooftops This is me (AznKei) playing Left 4 Dead 2 in single player with the Touhou characters starring Yuyuko, Eirin, Utsuho and Patchouli replacing the original survivors Nick, Ellis, Rochelle and Coach. The game is about 4 survivors immune to The Green Flu, which turns most humans into zombie-like creatures, who must escape the apocalyptic pandemic by defending themselves. "Urban Flight" is a campaign made by "The Rabbit". The campaign takes place during the evacuation where the survivors go through the Infected-filled city to reach the military airfield. The Survivors find themselves trapped in the city where they navigate through the police barricades, buildings, and debris to be rescued by the military on the airfield runway. The campaign can be found and downloaded at: http://www.l4dmaps.com/details.php?file=6905 . All thanks go for the author The Rabbit for making this campaign. Also, all thanks for 1337gamer15 for his wonderful Touhou character mods. :) Note: Since this chapter is long and I have the 15 minutes limit, I had no choice but to cut into 2 videos. Sorry for the incovenience. :( Link - Trackbacks

Swine flu pandemic that never was: bad science, fortunes made, public $$ wasted + fear-mongering on mass scale http://t.co/a73p1kRi #vaxfax Swine flu pandemic that never was: bad science, fortunes made, public $$ wasted + fear-mongering on mass scale http://t.co/a73p1kRi #vaxfax Link - Trackbacks

Related readings: WHO:H1N1 flu pandemic is over China vows to fend off post-pandemic flu Clue found to why swine flu... http://t.co/A5lBVMZ9 Related readings: WHO:H1N1 flu pandemic is over China vows to fend off post-pandemic flu Clue found to why swine flu... http://t.co/A5lBVMZ9 Link - Trackbacks

SAS Safety 6086 Pandemic/Flu Preparedness Kit | Electronics Tool Kit http://t.co/t6Hc6SJr SAS Safety 6086 Pandemic/Flu Preparedness Kit Link - Trackbacks

✈ Would you survive if there is a #flu #pandemic? #survival ✈ Would you survive if there is a #flu #pandemic? #survival Link - Trackbacks

Comments on: H5N1: Bird Flu Pandemic May Be Closer than Thought Study Finds - http://t.co/JahBN3DK Comments on: H5N1: Bird Flu Pandemic May Be Closer than Thought Study Finds - http://t.co/JahBN3DK Link - Trackbacks

Predictive Programming: Tv Movie Shows Riots, Quarantines, Mass Graves for Pandemic Flu - Part 3 http://t.co/bdDdTuTc via @youtube Predictive Programming: Tv Movie Shows Riots, Quarantines, Mass Graves for Pandemic Flu - Part 3 http://t.co/bdDdTuTc via @youtube Link - Trackbacks

⬧ Would you survive if there is a #flu #pandemic? #survive ⬧ Would you survive if there is a #flu #pandemic? #survive Link - Trackbacks

Some bird flu strains only three mutations away from a pandemic, researchers find http://t.co/udvQgQna Some bird flu strains only three mutations away from a pandemic, researchers find http://t.co/udvQgQna Link - Trackbacks