A lot of kids dream of having a bronze statue of themselves in the town square one day, but Edgar Hernandez probably didn't expect to achieve his in such a dubious method:

In 2009, the boy, from the poor village of La Gloria, became "Patient Zero", the first known person to catch H1N1, the deadly swine flu virus. While the strong and healthy boy survived the virus, 14,000 people worldwide were not so lucky.

The statue is based on the famous Mannequin Pis in Belgium, but fortunately for young Edgar's future dignity, he remains fully clothed. In his right hand, he clutches a toad, representing one of the seven deadly plagues wreaked upon the Pharoah and his people. Edgar's mother, Maria del Carmen Hernandez Perez, insists that her son likes the statue. Meanwhile, the state government is working hard to promote the statue, which it hopes will become a major draw for the rural town.

From Atlas Obscura, one of my favorite website to find the weirdest and most wonderful places on Earth: Link

You can get a swine flu vaccination at Walgreens. To advertise that fact, they put stickers on other products, but do they say “vaccine”? No, the stickers just say “H1N1 Available Here”, which won’t make much sense once you get these products home. Link -via J-Walk Blog

The terracotta dispenser, used in the northern town of Fornaci di Briosco, functions like an automatic soap dispenser in public washrooms — a churchgoer waves his or her hand under a sensor and the machine spurts out holy water.

"It has been a bit of a novelty. People initially were a bit shocked by this technological innovation but then they welcomed it with great enthusiasm and joy. The members of this parish have got used to it," said Father Pierangelo Motta.

Catholics entering and leaving churches usually dip their hands into fonts full of holy water — which has been blessed by a priest — and make the sign of the cross.

But fear of contracting the H1N1 virus has led many in Italy — where some 15 people have died of swine flu — not to dip their hands in the communal water font.

"It’s great," said worshipper Marta Caimm as she entered the church. "Thanks to this we are not worried about catching swine flu. It is the right thing for the times," she said.

Link (Photo: Stefano Rellandini/REUTERS) | Video clip (embedded YouTube clip) at TYWKIWDBI

This protective mask, designed by Michel Bussien and Erik Sjödin, was not designed to protect the user from the H1N1 virus. Instead, it will improve the user’s odds of getting infected. A small battery-powered fan in the INFLU mask sucks in air, increasing the possibility of infection several hundred percent. Supposedly, this device can be used to strengthen one’s immune system.

Link via NerdCore | Photo: Michel Bussien and Erik Sjödin

The Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas is asking that costumed Santas be put on the priority list for swine flu vaccinations this year.

“I have heard across the country numerous Santas who have actually had the swine flu, but I have not heard reports back of any of our Santas being able to get the swine flu shot as of yet,” said AORBS president Nicholas Trolli, who claims the shots will not only benefit the Santas, but the public at large.

Another major Santa group, Santa America, is ordering its members to wash their suits daily, rather than weekly and to stop wearing gloves to make hand washing easier.

Link Image Via Steve Rhodes [Flickr]

Raj Kamal of MintLife has a pretty nifty infographic about swine flu. Eye candy aside, I’m not going to take it completely at face value. For one, the graph lists graphjam.com (LOL!) and squidoo.com as source. This particular portion show above, however, looks logical enough to me

Link

On Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported the first confirmed case of H1N1 in a house pet, a 13-year-old domestic shorthaired cat. The animal likely contracted the virus from its owners, veterinarians say, since two of the three family members living in the cat’s household had recently suffered from influenza-like illness. Late last week, when the cat came down with flu-like symptoms — malaise, loss of appetite — its owners brought it to Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine for treatment. The family mentioned to the vet that they had also recently battled illness, which led to testing the pet for H1N1.

Link

With all the commotion over swine flu, who knew that the culprit – H1N1 Influenza Virus – could be so … cute? Here’s the popular Giant Microbe plush toy based on cause of the global flu pandemic. Get yours before the second wave of the pandemic hits!

Featured Item: every order will get a Free Mystery Bonus. It’s for a limited time only, so get yours today!

From the Neatorama Shop: H1N1 Swine Flue Virus Plush Toy | Other Giant Microbes | Swine Flu: Bacon’s Revenge T-Shirt

If you’re going to wear a mask to prevent catching the flu, why not make it something worth looking at? Now That’s Nifty has a roundup of interesting face masks from all over. Link

All of you Neatoramanauts know that we love tpyos here at Neatorama, but even we know how to spell Susan Boyle, MySpace and Swine Flu – those are just three of the most commonly misspelled (or perhaps mistyped) searches in Yahoo!

Vera H-C Chan of Yahoo! Buzz’ The Buzz Log has the list:

Recent Orthographic Abuses of the English Language on Yahoo!, Past 30 Days

* Swan Flu (for Swine Flu)
* Susan Boil (for "Britain’s Got Talent" contender Susan Boyle)
* Brack Obama (for U.S. President Barack Obama)
* Sonia Sotomeyer (for Supreme Court justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor)
* Rachel Ray (for Food Network host Rachael Ray)
* Paperview boxing (for cable programming pay-per-view boxing)
* Amtrack (for train system Amtrak)
* Wallmart (for retailer Wal-Mart)
* Farrah Faucet (for actress Farrah Fawcett)
* Rod Steward (for singer Rod Stewart)
* Arlene Specter (for Senator Arlen Specter)
* “Dancing With the Starts” (for ABC reality competition Dancing With the Stars)
* Bea Author” (for the late comedian Bea Arthur)
* Brittany Spears (for singer Britney Spears)
* Chris Allen (for “American Idol” winner Kris Allen)
* Configure worm (for computer virus Conficker worm)
* Mysapce (for MySpace)

Link – via USA Today

Previously on Neatorama: Swine Flu: Bacon’s Revenge

Is the swine flu hysteria over yet? Here’s a clever poster by Work for Food reminding you to keep calm and carry on: Link – via BB-Blog

Similarly, in Neatorama’s Online Shop: Swine Flu: Bacon’s Revenge T-shirt

The pig is a curiosity in Muslim Afghanistan, where pork and pig products are illegal because they are considered irreligious, and has been in quarantine since Sunday after visitors expressed alarm it could spread the new flu strain.

“For now the pig is under quarantine, we built it a room because of swine influenza,” Aziz Gul Saqib, director of Kabul Zoo, told Reuters. “We’ve done this because people are worried about getting the flu.”

Link -via YesButNoButYes

Humans have it. Pigs don’t. At least not yet, and U.S. pork producers are doing everything they can to make sure that the new H1N1 virus, known around the world as the "swine flu," stays out of their herds.

"That is the biggest concern, that your herd could somehow contract this illness from an infected person," said Kansas hog farmer Ron Suther, who is banning visitors from his sow barns and requiring maintenance workers, delivery men and other strangers to report on recent travels and any illness before they step foot on his property.

"If a person is sick, we don’t want you coming anywhere on the farm," Suther said.

Link

Previously on Neatorama:

- Scientists: Swine Flu Milder Than Run-Of-The-Mill Winter Flu
- Swine Flu: Bacon’s Revenge
- What is Swine Flu? How Does an Animal Disease Spread to a Human Host?
- 5 Deadliest Pandemics in History

The swine virus does appear able to spread easily among humans, which persuaded the WHO to boost its influenza pandemic alert level to phase 5, indicating that a worldwide outbreak of infection is very likely. And the CDC reported on its website that "a pattern of more severe illness associated with the virus may be emerging in the United States." [...]

But certainly nothing that would dwarf a typical flu season. In the U.S., between 5% and 20% of the population becomes ill and 36,000 people die — a mortality rate of between 0.24% and 0.96%.

Dirk Brockmann, a professor of engineering and applied mathematics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., used a computer model of human travel patterns to predict how this swine flu virus would spread in the worst-case scenario, in which nothing is done to contain the disease.

After four weeks, almost 1,700 people in the U.S. would have symptoms, including 198 in Los Angeles, according to his model. That’s just a fraction of the county’s thousands of yearly flu victims.

Karen Kaplan and Alan Zarembo of The Los Angeles Times has more: Link

And who’d blame ya …with "breaking news" every few minutes over possible cases of the flu, followed with even more breaking news of press conferences of denying that those cases were even flu to begin with. Not that Neatorama isn’t guilty of hyping up the swine flu, mind you.

So. Pigs have gotten a lot of bad press, lately, and the only cure for swine flu overload is … more news about pigs (positive spin, of course). That’s just what Nicholas Nadel of Asylum has done – here’s a look at the 10 Pigs We Will Always Love:

3. Babe

Smart, adorable, and with the voice of Bobby Hill, Babe is the only pig with an Oscar nomination under his belt. In fact, he’s such a well-rendered pig, he beat "Apollo 13" for best special effects. (The bad blood between Babe and Tom Hanks is legendary.) He even scored a sequel, the darkly surreal "Babe: Pig in the City." Fun fact: "Babe" was banned in Malaysia for not being "halal." That won’t do pig, that won’t do.

Link – Thanks Kurt Patat!

Swine flu is on everybody’s mind, so why not on their T-shirts as well? Neatorama illustrator Chris Murphy cooked up this hammy design that will surely get your friends and co-workers chuckling (though whether they’re chuckling because the shirt is funny or they’re nervous about swine flu is another matter).

And for those who’re sick and tired of hearing of the swine flu pandemic, how about a little pundemic? The cleverest pun in the comment (yes, I’m looking at you, Kalel) will win this T-shirt. Moral outrage is welcome (as long as it’s funny).

Link | Lots more fun Science T-Shirts

The Geeks are Sexy blog has a great post explaining everything you need to know about swine flu and how animal diseases can jump across the species barrier.

Have you been watching the news at all recently? If so, you’ve probably heard the term “Swine Flu” bouncing around a lot. While most people come down with the normal human flu at some point, it’s not really a danger to anyone but the very young and the very old. Why is this flu different and what does it have to do with pigs?

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Arby.

The outbreak of swine flu, first in Mexico then cases all over the world, has gotten a lot of people worried. And for a very good reason: despite the existence of scarier diseases caused by exotic viruses like Hantavirus and Ebola, influenza still reigns as the number one infectious killer in modern times.

Unlike regular seasonal epidemics of the flu, there are also rare but deadly pandemics, i.e. cases of influenza that spread on a worldwide scale and infect a large proportion of the human population.

While it's important not to panic (the swine flu appears to be highly treatable with conventional antiviral drugs), a review of past pandemics will elucidate why authorities are responding quickly to this outbreak. Here's a quick summary of the 5 deadliest pandemics in history:

1. The Peloponnesian War Pestilence

The very first pandemic in recorded history was described by Thucydides. In 430 BC, during the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta, the Greek historian told of a great pestilence that wiped out over 30,000 of the citizens of Athens (roughly one to two thirds of all Athenians died).

Thucydides described the disease as such "People in good health were all of a sudden attacked by violent heats in the head, and redness and inflammation in the eyes, the inward parts, such as the throat or tongue, becoming bloody and emitting an unnatural and fetid breath." Next came coughing, diarrhea, spasms, and skin ulcers. A handful survived, but often without their fingers, sights, and even genitals (Source)

Until today, the disease that decimated ancient Athens has yet to be identified.

2. The Antonine Plague

In 165 AD, Greek physician Galen described an ancient pandemic, now thought to be smallpox, that was brought to Rome by soldiers returning from Mesopotamia. The disease was named after Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, one of two Roman emperors who died from it.

At its height, the disease killed some 5,000 people a day in Rome. By the time the disease ran its course some 15 years later, a total of 5 million people were dead.

3. The Plague of Justinian

In 541-542 AD, there was an outbreak of a deadly disease in the Byzantine Empire. At the height of the infection, the disease, named the Plague of Justinian after the reigning emperor Justinian I, killed 10,000 people in Constantinople every day. With no room nor time to bury them, bodies were left stacked in the open.

By the end of the outbreak, nearly half of the inhabitants of the city were dead. Historians believe that this outbreak decimated up to a quarter of human population in the eastern Mediterranean. (source)

What was the culprit? It was the bubonic plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. This outbreak, the first known bubonic plague pandemic in recorded human history, marked the first of many outbreaks of plague - a disease that claimed as many as 200 million lives throughout history.

4. The Black Death

After the Plague of Justinian, there were many sporadic oubreaks of the plague, but none as severe as the Black Death of the 14th century.

While no one knows for certain where the disease came from (it was thought that merchants and soldiers carried it over caravan trading routes), the Black Death took a heavy toll on Europe. The fatality was recorded at over 25 million people or one-fourth of the entire population. (source)

It's interesting to note that the Black Death actually came in three forms: the bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plague. The first, the bubonic plague, was the most common: people with this disease have buboes or enlarged lymphatic glands that turn black (caused by decaying of the skin while the person is still alive). Without treatment, bubonic plague kills about half of those infected within 3 to 7 days.

In pneumonic plague, droplets of aerosolized Y. pestis bacteria are transmitted from human to human by coughing. Unless treated with antibiotics in the first 24 hours, almost 100% of people with this form of infection die in 2 to 4 days.

The last form, septicemic plague, happens when the bacteria enter the blood from the lymphatic or respiratory system. Patients with septicemic plague develop gangrenes in their fingers and toes, which turn the skin black (which gives the disease its moniker) Though rare, this form of the disease is almost always fatal - often killing its victims the same day the symptoms appear. (Photo and Source: Insecta-Inspecta)

We haven't heard the last of the bubonic plague. In 1855, another bubonic plague epidemic (named the Third Epidemic) hit the world - this time, the initial outbreak was in Yunnan Province, China. Human migration, trade and wars helped the disease spread from China to India, Africa, and the Americas.

All in all, this pandemic lasted about 100 years (it officially ended in 1959) and claimed over 12 million people in India and China alone.

5. The Spanish Flu

Emergency military hospital at Camp Funston, Kansas (Image: National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington D.C.) via PLoS Biology

In March 1918, in the last months of World War I, an unusually virulent and deadly flu virus was identified in a US military camp in Kansas. Just 6 months later, the flu had become a worldwide pandemic in all continents.

When the Spanish Flu pandemic was over, about 1 billion people or half the world's population had contracted it. It is perhaps the most lethal pandemic in the history of humankind: between 20 and 100 million people were killed, more the number killed in the war itself (Source)

The Spanish Flu actually didn't originate in Spain - it got its name because at the time, Spain wasn't involved in the war and had not imposed wartime censorship, thus it received great press attention there.

Recently, scientists were able to "resurrect" the virus from a well-preserved corpse buried in the permafrost of Alaska.