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US Deaths Expected From Swine Flu:

CDC: U.S. flu deaths likely as outbreak spreads
Confirmed cases reach 68; hundreds of kids may have flu, N.Y. official says
msnbc.com news services
updated 8:11 p.m. ET, Tues., April 28, 2009
At least seven people were in U.S. hospitals with swine flu as the number of cases nationwide rose to 68 on Tuesday and a federal health official warned that deaths were likely.

Most of the nation's confirmed cases were in New York City, where the health commissioner said "many hundreds" of schoolchildren were ill with what was "most likely swine flu." The city announced 45 confirmed cases, all affiliated with a Catholic high school.

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that although ordinary human flu accounts for 36,000 deaths every year, he was concerned by this strain.

"I fully expect we will see deaths from this infection," Besser said at an Atlanta news conference.

New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said that hundreds of students at St. Francis Preparatory in Queens had developed symptoms consistent with swine flu, although many hadn't been tested to confirm it. Some students there recently went on a spring break trip to Mexico.

"It is here and it is spreading," Frieden said. "We do not know whether it will continue to spread."

In New York, there were growing signs that the virus was moving beyond St. Francis Preparatory school, where sick students started lining up last week at the nurse's office. The outbreak came just days after a group of students returned from spring break in Cancun.

At the 2,700-student school, the largest Roman Catholic high school in the nation, "many hundreds of students were ill with symptoms that are most likely swine flu," said Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. The cases haven't been confirmed.

Twelve teachers reported flu-like symptoms as well, said the principal, Brother Leonard Conway.

A nearby public school for special education students was shut down after more than 80 students called in sick. Frieden said that some of the students have siblings at St. Francis.

Some of the New York students who tested positive for swine flu after a trip to Mexico passed it on to others who had not traveled — a significant fact because it suggests the strain suspected in dozens of deaths in Mexico can also spread through communities in other countries, said Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of the World Health Organization.

"There is definitely the possibility that this virus can establish that kind of community-wide outbreak capacity in multiple countries, and it's something we're looking for very closely," Fukuda said. So-called "community" transmissions are a key test for gauging whether the spread of the virus has reached pandemic proportions.

The CDC said the country has 68 confirmed cases across six states, with 45 in New York, 13 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one each in Indiana and Ohio, according to the CDC and states. Of the seven hospitalized, two are in New York, three are in California and two are in Texas.

The increase is not surprising. For days, CDC officials have said they expected to see more confirmed cases — and more severe illnesses. Health officials across the country have stepped up efforts to look for cases, especially among people with flu-like illness who had traveled to Mexico.

Plans for a vaccination
Scientists hope to have a key ingredient for a vaccine ready in early May, but it still will take a few months before any shots are available for the first required safety testing. Using samples of the flu taken from people who fell ill in Mexico and the U.S., scientists are engineering a strain that could trigger the immune system without causing illness.

"We're about a third of the way" to that goal, said Dr. Ruben Donis of the CDC.

Test kits are coming to states, so they can perform their own confirmations of swine flu, Besser said. Also, each state has requested its portion of the strategic national stockpile of antiviral drugs, gowns and masks.

“With a new infectious agent, you don’t sit back and wait,” said Besser. “We are in a pre-pandemic period.”

Besser urged people with confirmed cases of swine flu to stay home, and said their family members should stay home, too.

That effectively is a call for voluntary isolation for households in which the virus has been detected. The swine flu appears to be acting like a normal flu virus, which has a fairly high rate of transmission in families, said Besser.

A handful of schools around the country have closed over swine flu fears and some people are wearing masks, but it’s mostly business as usual in the U.S., even at border crossings into Mexico.

While Cuba suspended flights to and from Mexico on Tuesday, becoming the first country to impose a travel ban, and Asian countries deployed thermal sensors at airports to screen passengers from North America for signs of fever, there have been no extra screenings at the U.S. border with Mexico, the country considered ground zero for the outbreak.

No deaths have been reported in the U.S. so far. In contrast, there have been over 150 deaths in neighboring Mexico, with nearly 6,000 people exhibiting symptoms.


'A brand new virus'
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday that this hybrid flu — with pig, bird and human genetic components — has "pandemic potential."

"This is a brand new virus that we've never seen before," he said. " But what we're focusing on is to contain the spread of this."

In the immediate future, cases may begin to level off and dwindle, but then return during the tradition flu season in the fall and winter, as the 1918 flu did, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC.

"We might see an improvement just like we do with the seasonal flu but we need to be aware this strain is out there and it might come back in the fall," she said. "We're preparing the country for a period of uncertainty and a commitment that we'll stay with you."

Taking precautions
Scattered protective steps were being taken across the U.S. A few schools were closed — in Cibolo and New Braunfels, Texas; Claremont and Mira Mesa, Calif.; and Columbia, S.C. — and residents of Guadalupe County, outside San Antonio, were asked to avoid public gatherings and stay home if they are ill.

Security guards at all entrances of the University of Chicago Medical Center required anyone walking in to use a liquid disinfectant. At Rush University Medical Center, anyone seeking treatment for fever, runny nose and coughs was being tested for flu with nasal swabs.

Elsewhere, there were signs of growing unease among the public, even in places where there was no immediately known cause for alarm.

Pharmacies in Manhattan reported that paper face masks were selling by the box. One pharmacy owner said he had to order more from his wholesale supplier for the first time since the SARS epidemic six years ago.

Students at a Chicago school were instructed not to shake hands with anyone, and Southern Illinois University urged students to wash their hands frequently and cover their mouths when coughing. There were no known swine flu cases in Illinois.

And in New Mexico, which also had no reported cases, health officials were so besieged by calls from concerned citizens that they set up a swine flu hot line.

Besser, of the CDC, said his agency was looking for evidence of the disease spreading and probing for ways to control and prevent it.

The government also issued an advisory warning for travelers to cancel any nonessential visits to Mexico. It also took issue with a European Union health official who said the same thing about travel to parts of the U.S.

At the White House, a swine flu update, delivered by White House homeland security adviser John Brennan, was added to the president's daily intelligence briefing.

FDA issues emergency flu drug rules
The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency guidance late Monday that allows certain antiviral drugs to be used in a broader range of the population in case mass dosing is needed to deal with a widespread swine flu outbreak.

The agency originally approved the use of the antiviral drug Tamiflu for the prevention and treatment of influenza in adults and children age 1 and older. Another antiviral drug, Relenza, was originally approved to treat people 7 and older and to help prevent flu in those 5 and older.

The White House also aimed to sidestep a potentially problematic diplomatic headache. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to discuss whether Obama officials have any concern about when Mexico notified the U.S. of the outbreak — particularly significant given the president's trip to Mexico on April 16 and 17.

The White House said Monday that its medical unit asked if Mexican health officials and U.S. Embassy medical staff had any concerns about infectious disease and were told they did not. But a White House statement said, "We have no reason to believe they withheld any information they had at the time."


The Associated Press contributed to this report.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30453688/

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Possible beginning of Swine Flu:

Or

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_on_he_me/us_med_swine_flu_us_cases/print

CDC, states: US swine flu cases jump to 68
By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe, Ap Medical Writer
Tue Apr 28, 2:15 pm ET

ATLANTA – The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has jumped to 64, federal officials said Tuesday, and states reported at least four more.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the new count includes "a number of hospitalizations." CDC officials had previously said just one person had been hospitalized.

The CDC said there were 17 new cases in New York City, four more in Texas and three additional cases in California. That brings the total numbers of cases confirmed by federal officials to 45 in New York City, 10 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.

State health officials in California have confirmed three other cases, and Indiana authorities have confirmed one.

The increase is not surprising. For days, CDC officials have said they expected to see more confirmed cases — and more severe illnesses. Health officials across the country have stepped up efforts to look for cases, especially among people with flu-like illness who had traveled to Mexico.

CDC officials also warned that updates in the number of confirmed cases would at time be disjointed, as different states announce new information before the CDC's national count is updated.

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On the Net:

CDC swine flu Web page: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

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http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=20090428-202023

Analysis : Closer to a pandemic


By Amando Doronila
Editorial Consultant
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: April 28, 2009


THE WORLD Health Organization raised yesterday its global alert over swine flu from three to four but stopped short of declaring a global emergency. The alarm level was raised after an emergency meeting of global health officials following reports that the toll of flu-related deaths reached 149 in Mexico and swine flu cases in the United States doubled to 40.
Dr. Keiji Fukuda, World Health Organization assistant director general, said the decision signaled a “significant step towards pandemic influenza,” although “we are not there yet.” The increased threat level “signifies that we have taken a step closer to pandemic,” he said, adding that “it is possible that as the situation evolves over the next few days we could move into Stage 5.”

According to the WHO six-stage alert system, “a pandemic is an unexpected outbreak of disease that spreads from person to person across borders. Pandemics occur when a new influenza A-type virus, to which, almost no one has natural immunity, emerges and spreads internationally.”

Bloomberg television says the US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that a moderate pandemic will kill 209,000 people. A flu pandemic as severe as the one in 1918 would kill 1.9 million.

The raised alert level means that health officials need to prepare for a pandemic, though it is not inevitable, Fukuda said.

This is the first time the risk has risen about level 3 on the WHO’s six-step alert system since the current scale was adopted in 2005.

On the WHO pandemic alert scale, the phases are:

Phase 1: No viruses circulating among animals causing infections in humans.

Phase 2: Animal influenza virus causes infection in humans, and is considered potential pandemic threat.

Phase 3: Influenza causes sporadic cases in people, but no significant human-to-human transmission.

Phase 4: Verified human-to-human transmission able to cause community-level outbreaks. Significant increase in risk of a pandemic.

Phase 5: Human-to-human transmission in at least two countries. Strong signal pandemic imminent.

Phase 6: Virus spreads to another country in a different region. Global pandemic under way.

According to BBC news, level four means the virus is showing a sustained ability to pass from human to human, and is able to cause community-level outbreak.

“This can really be interpreted as a significant step towards pandemic influenza,” Fukuda said. “But also, it is phase that says we are not there yet. In other words, at this time we think we have taken a step in that direction, but a pandemic is not considered inevitable.”

Fukuda said the virus has become too widespread to make containment a feasible option. “Countries must focus on trying to put measures in place to protect the population,” he said.

Experts do not recommend closing borders or restricting travel. “With the virus being widespread, closing borders or restricting travel has very little effects in stopping the movement of this virus,” Fukuda said.

The first batches of swine flu vaccine can be ready in four to six months, but it will take several more months to produce large quantities.

According to health experts, the virus comes from the same strain that causes seasonal outbreak in humans. But they say this newly-detected version contains genetic material from versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds.

BBC News quoted Mexico’s Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova as saying the suspected death toll from swine flu had risen from just over 100 to 149. Of that number, 20 cases have been confirmed as swine flu.

All those who died were aged between 20 and 50, Cordova said. “We’re in the decisive moment of the crisis, the number [of deaths] will continue rising.”

He said nearly 2,000 people have been hospitalized since the first case of swine flu was reported on April 13.

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that so far the virus in the US seemed less severe than the one in Mexico.

The best way to keep the disease from spreading, Besser said, would be by taking everyday precautions such as frequent handwashing, covering up cough and sneezes, and staying away from work or school if not feeling well.

There is no vaccine available to prevent the specific strain now being seen, he said. But some anti-flu drugs do work when someone gets sick.

Confirmed cases of swine flu have been reported in the following places: Mexico, 20; US, 40; Canada, 6; Spain, 1; United Kingdom, 2. Suspected cases of swine flu are being tested in Israel, Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.

Amid the raised level of pandemic alert, the world was reminded of the devastating outbreaks of flu pandemics, including:

• The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Regarded as the most devastating outbreak of modern times, it infected up to 40 percent of the world’s population and killed more than 50 million people, with young adults particularly badly affected.
• The 1957 Asian flu, which killed two million people. It was caused by a human form of the virus H2N2 combining with a mutated strain found in wild ducks.
• The 1968 outbreak that was first detected in Hong Kong and caused by a strain known as H34N2. It killed up to one million people globally, with those over 65 most vulnerable.

The last flu outbreak poses an added threat to the world economy as it starts showing tentative early signs of recovery from the global recession. The outbreak threatens to batter tourism as well as the food and transport industries as several countries have warned their nationals from taking unnecessary travel to countries in North America suspected to be centers of the virus.





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Vineyard National Bank - VNBC



Large california bank becomes delisted and trades as a pinksheet stock.

Company Release - 04/22/2009 09:00


CORONA, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/22/09 -- Vineyard National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VNBC) (NYSE Amex: VXC.PR.D) (the "Company") announced today that on April 16, 2009, the Company received a NASDAQ Staff Determination letter notifying the Company that its failure to pay its annual listing fee constitutes a failure to satisfy the filing requirement for continued listing under NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 5210(d) and, therefore, trading in the Company's common stock will be suspended at the opening of business on April 27, 2009 and a Form 25-NSE will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") which will remove the Company's common stock from listing and registration on The NASDAQ Stock Market. The letter from NASDAQ advised us that the Company's common stock will not be immediately eligible to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board or in the "Pink Sheets."

On April 17, 2009, the Company also received correspondence from NYSE Amex LLC advising the Company that because the Company did not file an appeal regarding the delisting notice received on April 9, 2009, trading in the Company's 7.5% Series D Noncumulative Preferred Stock ("Preferred Stock") will be suspended at the opening of business on April 22, 2009. The correspondence from NYSE Amex advised us that the Company's Preferred Stock will automatically default to the Pink Sheets and be designated a new ticker.

About Vineyard National Bancorp

The Company is a $2.0 billion financial holding company headquartered in Corona, and the parent company of Vineyard Bank, N.A. ("Vineyard"). Vineyard, also headquartered in Corona, operates through 16 full-service banking centers and one regional financial center in the counties of Los Angeles, Marin, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura, Calif. The Company's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "VNBC." For additional information on the Company visit www.vnbcstock.com or for additional information on Vineyard and to access internet banking, please visit www.vineyardbank.com.

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American Deaths - now expected due to Swine Flu!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30453688/

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GM to force more than 1,000 dealers to close!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30458421/#storyContinued