Since up until now, we've only seen the third case of serious swine flu emerged in Shanghai, you may well be wondering, “how bad could all this hullabaloo get anyway?" more ›

Xinjiang has been through a lot of political and social trauma in the last couple of months, what with the riots in July, syringe attacks in September, the executions that followed, continuous H1N1 scares, and an internet blackout throughout the province. more ›

With the flu season beginning, it's certainly good to take precautions: keep warm, drink lots of fluids, avoid swine flu, et cetera. But that may be hard to do: Chinese health officials have now reported over 9,100 cases of A/H1N1 on the mainland. What's worse, more than half of the cases have been reported in the past three weeks. In response, China's health department has prepared enough Tamiflu for ten million people, which is a startlingly high number, even in China. We're not the type to panic over pandemics, but we're going to unpack our extra sweaters and sanitary face masks just in case. more ›

Shanghai confirmed its fifth case (already!) of swine flu over the weekend. This time, the patient was a 23-year-old female college student who had been studying in the U.S. She had taken a flight from New York to Hong Kong on Thursday. On Saturday, she developed a fever and was quarantined at Shanghai No.1 People’s Hospital. Eight family members and friends are under medical observation for the week. Shanghai’s first case, a businessman who had flown in from Melbourne, has recovered and is now out and about town. more ›

Despite China's strident attempts to protect itself from the A/H1N1 virus, a domestic case was discovered yesterday in Guangdong province. The patient had been in direct contact with another suspected flu patient, one who was confirmed to be a carrier of the virus on Thursday. more ›

There have now been nine confirmed cases of H1N1 on th Chinese mainland, with two new patients cropping up in Beijing and Fujian province over the weekend. In Fujian, a two-year-old girl tested positive for swine flu after returning from the U.S. with her family via Hong Kong. Meanwhile, in Beijing, the confirmed was a 46-year-old man surnamed Zhang who had flown over from Canada. Unfortunately, he took the subway several times before showing symptoms, possibly contaminating all of Beijing. Meanwhile, there are two suspected cases in Zhenjiang province and Shanghai. The Zhenjiang patient is a 19-year-old boy who came to New York. The Shanghai case is a 30-year-old Chinese man working for an Australian company who flew in from Melbourne. So far, swine flu has claimed no casualties in this country. Source: China Daily more ›

Yet another swine flu patient has been found in Beijing, making it the third case to be discovered this week and China's fifth case overall. The latest patient is a 21-year-old Chinese Canadian male who came over from Toronto. He arrived in Beijing on May 16 and sought treatment for a fever on the 19th. It seems like there really is an uptick in H1N1 discoveries recently, which makes us really worry about our plans to head out of the country this summer. It also brings up the question: how many more cases before we stop reporting them individually and start in bulk? Source: Economic Observer Online more ›

The swine flu count stands at China:3, Hong Kong:3 after each region confirmed its third case of H1N1 over the weekend. In China, the afflicted is an 18-year-old student in Beijing who was admitted to the hospital a few days after returning from the U.S. For her troubles, she got a visit from Grandpa Wen, who warned her and other overseas students to learn more about protecting themselves. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong case was a 23-year-old male who returned from New York. He was picked up by an infrared temp screener and immediately sent to the hospital. Even though he had worn a mask on the flight, his fellow passengers may still need to be quarantined. Source: SCMP (behind paywall) more ›

China is now reporting a second suspected case of swine flu located in Shandong Province. A man, surnamed Lv, had flown from Canada to Beijing before taking a train to Jinan, Shandong's capital on May 8. Three days later, he checked himself into the Jinan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, complaining of fever, sore throat and a headache. Tests showed he was "suspected positive" of the A/H1N1 virus, though the virus specimens need to be sent to a main office for further testing. This follows two days after China's first suspected case, a man surnamed Bao who was quarantined in a Chengdu contagious disease control hospital. Source: China Daily more ›

Yes, we're sick of the scaremongering, paranoia and misinformation. While we're already cringing every time someone sneezes in the office or metro, we've realized what real paranoia is after spending the weekend in Hong Kong: doormats being disinfected every half hour, people talking through masks, masks being sold at every convenient store and an entire hotel being put under quarantine. more ›

• Swine-Flu Warning Raised as Virus Crosses Continents [Bloomberg] "The World Health Organization, acknowledging the growing threat of swine flu, raised its global pandemic alert, saying the disease is no longer containable.The alarm level, raised to 4 from 3, is at its highest since the warning system was adopted in 2005, and the virus has been confirmed in the U.K., Mexico, the U.S., Canada and Spain."
• U.S. Warns China, Other Countries Not to Ban Pork [Fox News] "China and a string of other countries have moved to ban pork and other meat products from some U.S. states over the past week. The trend on Tuesday drew a rebuke from U.S. officials, who are warning trading partners that such embargoes could trigger "serious trading disruptions." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations insist that the strain cannot be spread by food and that properly cooked pork is safe."
• Anise star spice amid flu scare, China minister says [Reuters] " Scared your favorite pork dish may harbor swine flu? China's Health Minister advises adding some star anise. The numbing spice is a key raw ingredient for Tamiflu, one of the main anti-virals used to treat swine flu, and is also a popular flavoring in Chinese cuisine."

The next big epidemic is here and this time around it didn't come out of China! Swine flu, a respiratory disease in pigs, has somehow spread to humans - infecting a total of 20 people in the U.S. so far and allegedly killing more than 103 in Mexico! more ›