H7N9

[cronus]

Follow it's progress on promedmail. Coming to a cinema/shopping mall or anywhere people gather near you soon.

http://www.promedmail.org/

Anti Virus Swine Flu Surgical Face Masks with earloops, buy while cheap and available.

[Blind groper]

So far this form of bird flu remains confined to China and is still passed only from bird to human, not human to human. If it stays that way .......

[cronus]

So far this form of bird flu remains confined to China and is still passed only from bird to human, not human to human. If it stays that way .......

There isn't much hope for this virus but China might still come up with the goods? I'd like at least a fifty per cent reduction in human numbers, and I'm willing to take the lottery ticket myself as well don't worry about that. Maybe others would prefer the Earth's resources to be totally consumed before we peg out in a few decades time?

[JimC]

So, Scrumple, you belong to the "Gaia, please remove these pesky hominids from your surface" brigade...

[cronus]

So, Scrumple, you belong to the "Gaia, please remove these pesky hominids from your surface" brigade...

Close. I'm with Klaatu.

[Blind groper]

Close. I'm with Klaatu.

Nothing to do with reducing human population, though.

We are already on course towards a better population control, anyway. The United Nations demographers, who follow the trends, have predicted a maximum of 10 billion, plus or minus a few. After the year 2100, it is likely that global population will be falling.

it is noteworthy that pretty much all advanced western nations, apart from a few backward ones like the USA, already have a declining population.

[Seabass]

Close. I'm with Klaatu.

Nothing to do with reducing human population, though.

We are already on course towards a better population control, anyway. The United Nations demographers, who follow the trends, have predicted a maximum of 10 billion, plus or minus a few. After the year 2100, it is likely that global population will be falling.

it is noteworthy that pretty much all advanced western nations, apart from a few backward ones like the USA, already have a declining population.

Uh, what??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... rowth_rate

[Blind groper]

To Seabass

The key figure is fertility. That is, how many children each woman produces. Replacement rate is about 2.2, due to child mortality. A population is growing if it has fertility of over 2.2, and is shrinking if it has less.**

50 years ago, the world as a whole had a fertility rate of 5.5. Today, it is down to 2.4, which means very slow growth. However, the fertility is still falling, and the United Nations predicts it will be at 2.0 around the year 2050. This is significantly below replacement, but there will still be some growth from young people reaching breeding age, and from old people not dying off as quickly as they used to. By 2100, the population overall should be in decline.

**There is, however, a delay if the fertility is dropping quickly. This is due to the children of the previous generation maturing and popping out kids. So, if 25 years ago, each woman produced (for example) 2 female children, then today, as a global average, those 2 children will each produce 1.2 female children, and the population continues to grow, since the previous generation has not yet started to die off. The much older, dying population will be much fewer than the breeding population. However, by the time another generation has come and gone, the rate of growth will be massively less. Indeed, quite likely in decline. This is due to more people having reached the dying generation, and fewer breeders. All this has been taken into account by the United Nations projections.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

BR-549 is much worse.

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-22141290

China bird flu: 'Two new cases' in Henan province

There have been two new cases of H7N9 "bird flu" in China's Henan province, giving a national total of 51, China's state news agency says.

Officials say 11 people have so far died after contracting the new strain of the virus.

The latest cases come a day after a seven-year-old girl was taken ill with the virus in the capital, Beijing.

There are no reported cases outside the country, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nineteen people who had close contact with the two new victims in Henan had shown no signs of infection, China's state news agency Xinhua said.

The first cases of the virus were reported in February, in eastern China.

There have now been three cases outside the area where the initial cases were reported.

(continued)

[Clinton Huxley]

WHO investigating "family clusters". Chinese authorities locking up bloggers who question the official figures

[cronus]

WHO investigating "family clusters". Chinese authorities locking up bloggers who question the official figures

Won't get honest figures until it hops on a plane and comes here.

[Rum]

BR-549 is much worse.

B52s are pretty efficient at population control too.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... D_20130424

[Coito ergo sum]

It appeared in Taiwan. So, still sort of China, but not mainland China.