Today's Links: Swine flu, swine flu, swine flu, swine flu, swine flu and swine flu!

Shanghaiist

Swine-Flu Warning Raised as Virus Crosses Continents [Bloomberg] "The World Health Organization, acknowledging the growing threat of swine flu, raised its global pandemic alert, saying the disease is no longer containable.The alarm level, raised to 4 from 3, is at its highest since the warning system was adopted in 2005, and the virus has been confirmed in the U.K., Mexico, the U.S., Canada and Spain."

U.S. Warns China, Other Countries Not to Ban Pork [Fox News] "China and a string of other countries have moved to ban pork and other meat products from some U.S. states over the past week. The trend on Tuesday drew a rebuke from U.S. officials, who are warning trading partners that such embargoes could trigger "serious trading disruptions." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations insist that the strain cannot be spread by food and that properly cooked pork is safe."

Anise star spice amid flu scare, China minister says [Reuters] " Scared your favorite pork dish may harbor swine flu? China's Health Minister advises adding some star anise. The numbing spice is a key raw ingredient for Tamiflu, one of the main anti-virals used to treat swine flu, and is also a popular flavoring in Chinese cuisine."

China Should Stockpile Flu Vaccine Now [Caijing] "China has established a nationwide flu monitoring network, with 84 labs working on methods to detect the virus and decode its genetic series to help develop a vaccine... Research on a specialized swine flu vaccine is still ongoing, but current flu vaccines will offer some measure of protection and may help prevent infection, the expert, who declined to be identified, told Caijing. He spoke following the conference, which was called by the Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention on April 27."

Taiwan villagers turn bras into face masks to prevent swine flu [Earth Times] "Women in a southern Taiwan village are turning bras into face masks amid a shortage of the masks in shops after a swine-flu alert was declared, a news reports said Tuesday. Many women in Houbi in Tainan County are sitting before sewing machines to churn out colorful face masks made by cutting a bra in two and sewing elastic bands on each cup, the ERA cable television channel said."

China denies being source of swine flu [Jerusalem Post] "Several Mexican officials were quoted in media reports in the past week saying that swine flu came from Asia, with the governor of Mexico's Veracruz state quoted as saying the virus specifically came from China. "Driven by ulterior motives, some overseas media have ignored the facts of the epidemic and basic scientific knowledge and deliberately fabricated rumors that this epidemic came from China," Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an said in a statement on the ministry Web site."