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Health Authorities Use Web 2.0, Social Networking Facebook, Widgets For Swine Flu
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Herb Brandon Jerusalem ---- May 2, 2009 ...... World health authorities are now using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to inform millions worldwide on the lethal threat of the Swine Flu virus. On Facebook, a room entitled Swine Flu - Influenza A (H1N1) - Facts News Updates Widgets, was created just hours ago and is now reaching thousands from New York, Montreal and Mexico City to London, Paris and Tokyo. This Facebook forum contains the latest news updates from the Center of Disease Control CDC and the World Health Organization. This interactive room provides a comfort zone for Facebook users to share information, concerns and provide support for those affected. The Facebook room's introduction states: "With correct, accurate information we have nothing to fear. Without fear, we will continue to live our lives normally and not create an economic disaster. It is not Swine Flu that we should fear. It is our ignorance and reaction to it which that we need to address and move forward in a healthy and positive manner!" Swine Flu or Influenza A (also called hog flu and pig flu) refers to influenza caused by any strain of the influenza virus endemic in pigs (swine). Strains endemic in swine are called swine influenza virus (SIV). Swine flu is common in swine in the midwestern United States (and occasionally in other states), Mexico, Canada, South America, Europe (including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy), Kenya, China, Japan, Taiwan, and other parts of eastern Asia. Swine flu is rare in humans. People who work with swine, especially people with intense exposures, are at risk of catching swine influenza if the swine carry a strain able to infect humans. The 2009 flu outbreak in humans that is widely known as "swine flu" is due to a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that derives by reassortment from one strain of human influenza virus, one strain of avian influenza virus, and two separate strains of swine influenza virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and government officials state that there are 16 confirmed deaths in Mexico and one confirmed in US, a toddler from Mexico who died in Texas. Over 653 have been diagnosed as having Swine Flu with: 397 in Mexico; 161 in the US, 51 in Canada; 13 in both Spain and Britain; four each in Germany and New Zealand; two each in Israel and France; one each in Switzerland, Austria, South Korea, China, Denmark and the Netherlands. A Mexican tourist visiting Hong Kong becomes Asia's first confirmed case. About 300 people were quarantined at a hotel where the tourists stayed. A recent survey from Nielsen Online put swine flu at 2% of all Twitter conversations, making it an even bigger topic than British singing star Susan Boyle. Public health experts say the Internet can be an important source of information on the H1N1 virus, but you need to know who's at the helm. "In the current swine flu situation, some [sources] are alarmist, where others present a more balanced picture of concern," says Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, director of communicable disease control and prevention for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health. One of these sources is Feedzilla. "Feedzilla has created Internet software that is now being used to save lives through disseminating reliable, real time, 24/7 information," says Joel Leyden, an Internet crisis communications public relations, marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) pioneer who created the Facebook Swine Flu forum support group. "Using information from WHO, CDC and reliable news organizations, Feedzilla answers such questions as how can I protect myself and others? What can I do to prevent spreading swine flu? Where did the latest outbreaks occur? Feedzilla provides answers to all urgent questions related to the threatening pandemic of "Swine Flu", where time is of the essence and action needs to be taken immediately. Feedzilla main focus is on the prevention and containment of Swine Flu. The specific widget they offer to Websites on swine-flu contains pertinent information regarding your country of residence or travel-destination. An interactive world-map that allows the user to access this information by just one click to any point on the map. Graphics are supplied by D-LABS. Most importantly, Feedzilla does not rely on information generated by various search engines but provides its users with updated content handpicked by 30 globally located editors."
The above news content was edited and SEO optimized in Israel for the Internet by the Leyden Communications Internet Marketing SEO Group - Israel, London, New York.
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