Swine Flu: Know Your Enemy!

For the benefit of all, I tried to simplify a long literature about swine flu in a hope that we get an idea of it at single glance. There's a saying: To defeat your enemies, you must know them well.

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What is it? A respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Here are some of the facts all of us need to know about the flu:-

Can humans catch swine flu? Yes, although not normally. Most cases involve people with direct exposure to pigs.

Symptoms of swine flu in humans - fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Signs of swine flu in pigs - fever, depression, coughing (barking), discharge from the nose or eyes, sneezing, breathing difficulties, eye redness or inflammation, and going off feed.

Can people catch swine flu from eating pork? No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. One can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe.

How does swine flu spread? When people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs. Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur.

Available edications - 4 types approved by the US so far: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir.

Spreading of swine flu among pigs - mostly through close contact among pigs and possibly from contaminated objects moving between infected and uninfected pigs.

So far, there is no reported case of swine flu in Malaysia and the Government is preparing itself to counter the spread of the decease from arriving at our shore. Be better equipped and stay away from swine flu.

Further readings (here) - *hyperlink removed due to bad link*

Giggs: PFA Footballer of the Year

My all time Welsh football player, Ryan Giggs has finally been awarded PFA Player of the Year by fellow professional footballers in England. He started just 12 games this season for his club, Manchester United but he contributed some crucial goals towards maintaining United's lead in English Premier League.

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So, I think it is more of a reward for Giggs 18 years of glittering career which he started at young age in 1991. But, hey he deserves it and I think many will agree with me that he is one of the more talented footballers in the UK, for a long long time.

Some of the 35-year old's achievements:

• 10 Premier League titles,
• 4 FA Cups,
• 3 League Cups,
• 2 Champions League medals.

Giggs said "It's right up there, with personal accolades it's the best to have as it's voted by your fellow players, I've been fortunate to win a lot of trophies, I won the young player award twice, but this is the big one.''

So, Congrats Gigsy! I'm sure you still have some good stuffs up your sleeve even at this age.

Rayn Giggs' Profile

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Park at Your Own Risk!

Have you experienced any of the followings while your car was parked at a paid parking bays?:

1) Missing items from car,

2) Car dented or hit by other vehicle,

3) Car was visibly broken into,

and you were unable to pursue your claim due to the disclaimer signage or hindered by the car park Operator's "terms and conditions"?

If the case in Georgetown Penang is to go by, you can now haul up the Operator to court and seek justice. Well, at the very least try to iron out terms and regulations that you think are unfair to you as customer. The Georgetown case involved a landmark decision of a RM1,688 award to a lawyer who challenged the "park at your own risk" validity when items were stolen from his car.

Lesson to learn here is that Operators can not run away from responsibility to care for vehicles parked in the area under their care.

Come on, you can not expect me to pass by your gate barrier, collect RM2.00 and assume nothing, can you?