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Swine flu inspires new video game
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
Monday, August 17, 2009

(08-17) 09:24 PDT LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) –
Since swine flu first emerged in April, it has sparked panic, vaccine production and now, a video game.

In an effort to raise awareness, Dutch researchers have created a game that challenges players to control a new pandemic.

“It is actually what is happening now, what is happening in the real world,” said Albert Osterhaus, head of virology at the Erasmus Medical Center, who designed “The Great Flu” game with colleagues.
The game can only be played online at thegreatflu.com and it is free. A World Health Organization spokesman said Monday the agency was not familiar with the game and had not had time to play it.
WHO has reported nearly 178,000 cases of swine flu including 1,462 deaths worldwide, though those numbers are believed to be a gross underestimate of the actual caseload, since hard-hit countries no longer test all cases with flu-like symptoms.

As the virus has spread worldwide, countries have tried different methods to slow it down and pharmaceutical companies are now racing to produce a swine flu vaccine.

The game begins with images of bedridden patients and graveyards from the 1918 Spanish flu. As the head of the fictitious “World Pandemic Control,” players pick a flu strain, and then monitor that strain’s spread around the world.
To fight the emerging outbreak, players use measures including setting up surveillance systems, stockpiling antivirals and vaccines, and closing schools and airports. Players also have a limited budget and are warned that “your actions to control the virus cost money, so keep an eye on it.”

A running tally of the numbers of people infected and those who have died sit above the budget. Newspaper stories about the deadly virus and the global response to it — like riots breaking out worldwide — pop up to help players monitor the outbreak.

Messages from governments mirror the difficulties faced by international agencies like WHO. For instance, when players set up costly surveillance systems, the game often relays a message from governments that “we will comply with your directions…but we must inform you that the political support for this action is low in this region. Therefore, the effectiveness of the system may differ from your expectations.”

Osterhaus said the video game’s approximation of combating a pandemic, choosing between various interventions yet still watching the outbreak spread, gives people a sense of how difficult it is to make decisions in the public health world.
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On the Net:
www.thegreatflu.com
www.who.int
Read more: sfgate.com

What to do with doggy doo — how ’bout a Powerloo?

05/27/2009 | 03:58 PM

LINDEN, Mich. – Necessity might be the mother of invention, but nastiness also played a big role in Curt Fournier’s creation. Fournier, 34, developed the Powerloo and formed GreenDog LLC with fiancee Victoria Januszewski.

It’s an outdoor, handsfree flushable toilet for dog waste. The Powerloo sits just below ground level and taps into sewer lines. It’s designed to be an environmentally safe and convenient way to dispose of dog poop.

Fournier, who said he spent two years on research, said it’s preferable to taking up space in a landfill or remaining on the ground. Federal environmental and disease experts said dog waste can infect humans or other animals, and contaminate water sources.

Such experts recommend flushing pet waste down a toilet but “carrying dog poop into your house can be unsafe, and not to mention gross,” Januszewski told the Detroit Free Press for a story published Saturday.

“Vicki and I were getting tired of cleaning up the mess left by our two dogs and thought that being able to flush it down a toilet in the backyard would make things easier,” Fournier said.

GreenDog plans to officially launch the Powerloo next month and expects to make 500 of them this year. It sells for about $1,000, and comes with an optional heating unit to prevent freezing. – AP
gmanews.tv

TOKYO (AP) — In a country where ghosts are traditionally believed to hide in the loo, a Japanese company is advertising a new literary experience — a horror story printed on toilet paper.

Each roll carries several copies of a new nine-chapter novella written by Koji Suzuki, the Japanese author of the horror story “Ring,” which has been made into movies in both Japan and Hollywood.

“Drop,” set in a public restroom, takes up about three feet (90 centimeters) of a roll and can be read in just a few minutes, according to the manufacturer, Hayashi Paper.

The company promotes the toilet paper, which will sell for 210 yen ($2.20) a roll, as “a horror experience in the toilet.”

Toilets in Japan were traditionally tucked away in a dark corner of the house due to religious beliefs. Parents would tease children that a hairy hand might pull them down into the dark pool below.
www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article