Swine Flu Mutation Concerns Norwegian Scientists

As with the story yesterday from the Ukraine, this is something to keep an eye on. The primary concern over Swine Flu is it’s potential  to mutate into a much more serious disease.

Scientists in Norway have identified a mutated form of the swine flu virus that is raising concern because it was found in two patients who died of the flu and a third who was severely ill with the disease, officials announced Friday.

In a statement, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said the mutation “could possibly make the virus more prone to infect deeper in the airways and thus cause more severe disease,” such as pneumonia.

Scientists have analyzed about 70 viruses from confirmed Norwegian swine flu cases and found the mutation in only those three patients, Geir Stene-Larsen, the institute’s director general, said in the statement.

“Based on what we know so far, it seems that the mutated virus does not circulate in the population, but might be a result of spontaneous changes which have occurred in these three patients,” the statement said.

The institute has been analyzing H1N1 virus from “a number of patients as part of the surveillance of the pandemic flu virus,” and has detected several mutations, the statement said. While the existence of mutations is normal, and most “will probably have little or no importance . . . one mutation has caught special interest.”

The two patients who had the mutation and died were the first swine flu fatalities in Norway. The third patient found to have the mutated form of the virus also became severely ill.

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Paksitan – Terror Attack On Norwegian and Swedish Embassies Thwarted

A man with two tons of explosives in his possession has been arrested in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. According to reports the man had planned to blow up the Norwegian and Swedish embassies in the city.

In addition, the Hungarian, Czech and South African embassies were also among the targets for the man’s terrorist attacks, the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports.

The newspaper quotes a central source as saying that the Swedish military presence in Afghanistan was the reason for the planned attack.

Also Norway is participating in the ISAF forces in Afghanistan. The Norwegian Foreign Office has declined to comment on the reports, but security at the Norwegian embassy has been stepped up.

One year ago the Danish embassy in Islamabad was attacked, and six people were killed.

Source

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