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April 29, 2009

Slaughter of pigs underway in Egypt

Per Thaindian News, Egyptian government officials have ordered the slaughter of all pigs within the country to occur within the next few days in hopes of stemming the spread of the swine flu virus. The swine flu has now spread to several countries and the WHO raised the pandemic alert to level 5 today.

Egyptian officials stated that all pigs would be examined to see if they carried the virus before they are killed. Egypt is 90 percent Muslim and the Islamic faith forbids the consumption of pork yet officials stressed that religion didn't influence their decision to cull the pigs.

Twitterers in Cairo had strong opinions about the decision.

moftasa (Cairo, Egypt) It is pigs holocaust in Egypt :-( and it is not a necessary action. 29 Apr 2009 from web

mar3e (Cairo, Egypt) @moftasa there is no any sceintific basic for killing pigs with out apperance of any infection 29 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to moftasa

andrewheiss (Cairo, Egypt) Where are you going to sell the meat from half a million pigs? 29 Apr 2009 from twitterrific

msfour (Cairo, Egypt) speculation that #swineflu and mass pig slaughter in egypt will be used as excuse to ban pigs http://tinyurl.com/c28pcx 29 Apr 2009 from web

moftasa (Cairo, Egypt) Do you think slaughtering pigs in Egypt will prevent swine flu from entering through the Airport? http://tr.im/k2Oy 29 Apr 2009 from web

Maggiemelba (Cairo, Egypt) Latest about the slaughter of pigs in Cairo- the government will compensate the farmers who's pigs will be slaughtered. otherwise, vaccine. 29 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

Twitter reacts to WHO raising pandemic alert level again

The World Health Organization has increased the pandemic alert level for swine flu from 4 to 5, one short of an a full-blown pandemic, according to its official Web site. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said that "all countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans."

Here's how some Twitterers around the globe responded, although a good part of the world in Asia and elsewhere was sound asleep when the story broke:

Gord_Cadabra (Toronto, Canada) The news just told me that all of humanity is at risk thanks to the swine flu. I think Al Gore has an idea for his next movie. 29 Apr 2009 from web

maximbarrault (Paris, France) WHO threat level raised from four to five after evidence of illness spreading within separate geographic zones. Stay away from me. 29 Apr 2009 from web

hanzipan (London, U.K.) The WHO are moving the pandemic warning up to level 5.. this is getting a bit worrying! (Still sewing the guineapig by the way) 29 Apr 2009 from web

Ulises (Monterrey, Mexico) soy el único que piensa que la WHO se tarda mucho en actuar? o será que yo soy muy rápido y escandaloso (I am the only one who thinks that the WHO will take long to act? or is it that I am very fast and scandalous) 29 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

joeplanet (Fort Worth, Texas, USA) #BringItUnplugged Awesome! WHO just moved swine flu pandemic alert to level 5 and I am in a large room packed to standing room only. 29 Apr 2009 from Tweetie

aaronbutler (Berlin, Germany) Swine flu perspective time! Seasonal flu has killed 13,000 since January: http://tinyurl.com/cd3tgz 29 Apr 2009 from web

aldy (Melbourne, Australia) the news and the WHO is blowing this whole swine flu out off proportion really. 29 Apr 2009 from web

RubyGold (Johannesburg, South Africa) RT @johnmarshall705: Stop tweeting about Swine flu!!!! until it kills more people then the regular flu 36000 last year who cares!!!!!!!! 29 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

UmEEE (Lahore, Pakistan) global influenza pandemic threat level raised by WHO to level 5 on a scale of 6!!! 29 Apr 2009 from web

Several Twitterers noted that the WHO Web site had crashed momentarily, apparently overloaded. It appears to be working again, though running slowly.

TheSquare (Portland, Ore.) @Native_Momma Looks like the WHO site just crashed. So much for pandemic preparedness. 29 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to Native_Momma

AnyaFanya (Undisclosed) Response to raised alert must have just crashed WHO's site. It's no longer loading. 29 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

teodoro1188 (Atlanta, Ga.) WHO website is jammed. Can't get the latest info ... grrr. Look like this thing's getting serious. 29 Apr 2009 from web

CarysIsAwesome (Undisclosed) i keep getting a broken link to WHO's website. does this alarm anyone else? 29 Apr 2009 from web

mkhill (St. Louis, Mo.) WHO website is down. Anyone surprised? To you teens, 20- and 3-somethings: Now is the time to pick back up the hygiene habits! 29 Apr 2009 from Tweetie

Featured Twitpic: Rainbow from hillside in Kenya

"RAinbow in Nguruman" (Posted by @tchenya, April 29, 2009)

Pakistan takes on Taliban in Buner

Per Al Jazeera, the Pakistani army has launched an air-and-land offensive against the Taliban in the town of Buner, Pakistan. The operation began Tuesday and is expected to take a week, according to Pakistani military spokesman Athar Abbas.

Twitterers in Pakistan are buzzing about this latest encounter with the Taliban, offering unique insight into the conflict:

sarmadtariq (Islamabad, Pakistan) Pakistani media threatened by Taliban to stop being anti them OR??????????????????????? 28 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

UmEEE (Lahore, Pakistan) a friend who lives in swat says that the government and army can throw these militants from the valleys very easily but they dont do it!!! 28 Apr 2009 from web

UmEEE (Lahore, Pakistan) its a shame and unbelievable that we in pakistan have to deal with the taliban havnt we learnt anything from what happened in afghanistan!!! 28 Apr 2009 from web

imrananwar (Lahore, Pakistan) @LauraNo No swine flu in Pakistan where I'm visiting, but murderous swine Taliban. ;-) 29 Apr 2009 from web in reply to LauraNo

ScottHeidler (Islamabad, Pakistan) The Taliban movement near Islamabad is concerning, but its not reported that there is at lease one mountain range between here and there. 29 Apr 2009 from web

ScottHeidler (Islamabad, Pakistan) In other words, the Taliban are close and need to be dealt with. But they are not pounding on the gates of the city. 29 Apr 2009 from web

daudahmad (Lahore, Pakistan) Why were we stupid enough to believe that Taliban would lay down their weapons for a 'peace agreement'? #swat #blaggers #pk 29 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

Mapping the spread of swine flu

Per M.I.T. Technology Review, Google Maps provides a practical way to track the geographic scope of H1N1 swine flu. This map in particular has been viewed more than 150,000 times and has made the rounds on Twitter.

The article states that the World Health Organization now says it is too late to contain the swine flu. However, it also says that the current tracking and communication of social sites, blogs and other internet tools are vital to distributing information and slowing outbreaks.

The Google Map swine flu tracker has been both praised and criticized by the Twitterverse:

SagaciousT (Puget Sound, Wash.) @ShaunaCausey also not that the swine-flu google map has many repeats and is utterly useless 28 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to ShaunaCausey

SKARLIT (Sarasota, Fla.) Google swine flu map includes "get directions" when you click on these places. Convenient! I need a better sleep schedula ASAP. 28 Apr 2009 from web

chrismpage (Iowa City, Iowa) is amazed by the swine flu google map tool. 28 Apr 2009 from web

acaiedge (Undisclosed) the google swine flu map is many hours out of date 28 Apr 2009 from web

Worrals (Hamilton, Ontario) Just in case you aren't panicked enough about Swine flu, here's a handy Google map: http://tinyurl.com/swinemap09 28 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

charyl (Colorado) @zaibatsu Are you in Ouray County? I ask bcuz that's where the google swine flu map is showing the suspected case. 28 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to zaibatsu

thewalkingipod (California) @kimbyann12 Well that's good to know cuz I've been watching the swine flu map on Google... 29 Apr 2009 from web in reply to kimbyann12