Ebola Outbreak Is Worst in Years

(NEWSER) - While the world panics over swine flu, many far more serious outbreaks lie in wait, reports Foreign Policy. Here are some you won’t see on TV—yet:

• Cholera: The deadly diarrheal infection is rampant in Africa, with infections shooting up 96% in 2006. The current outbreak in Zimbabwe has killed 4,200 since August.
• Ebola: Unlikely to become a pandemic, but has an absolutely terrifying mortality rate.

H1N1 virus likely arose among jet-setting humans

(NEWSER) - The humble porker shouldn't be the one taking the blame for the H1N1 virus, scientists tell the Los Angeles Times. Pigs provided some of the raw material for the virus, experts say, but so did birds and humans. The most likely incubators and spreaders of the virus, according to scientists, were jet-setting humans whose bodies mixed and matched different strains of flu. More»

(NEWSER) - Twitter and other social networks are creating a swine-flu panic out of a molehill with their instantaneous updates, Robert X. Cringely writes for InfoWorld. The quick flow of less-than-dependable information means “people with head colds decide they're really dying from a porcine-borne bug and flood emergency rooms.” And such a strain of internet-enabled paranoia could be a boon for cyberterrorists. More»

(AP) - Fear of swine flu is a good reason to wash your hands, but not to take pork off the menu. Federal health officials say the virus that has triggered fears of a flu pandemic is not transmitted by food, and that all food-borne germs are killed when pork is cooked to the recommended internal temperature of 160 degrees F. There also is no evidence so far that American pigs are infected with the virus. More»

Bloomberg confirms suspicions, awaits tests on more students

(AP) - The CDC has confirmed that eight New York City schoolchildren were infected with swine flu, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said today, stressing that the cases were mild and many are recovering. The city is awaiting the tests of additional samples to see if more students are infected. Some students at St. Francis Prep School went to Cancun on a spring break trip 2 weeks ago, and more than 100 students had complained of flu-like symptoms. More»