The map above shows red dots placed at the approximate centers of counties/parishes listed as active on FluWatch.com. For large counties/parishes, the dots are placed according to their zip code locations as determined from MapQuest.com®. Display of the FluWatch.com active areas does not imply that influenza is absent in other places. For example, here is a limited list of links to flu information for selected USA states and other influenza information sites.

The ZymeTx, Inc. ZstatFlu™ rapid influenza test, used by physicians of the National Flu Surveillance Network™ in the production of daily FluWatch reports, responds to both Influenza A and Influenza B. FluWatch.com uses the following levels of influenza activity in a given area.
  Watch: Positive flu results have been reported.
  Alert: Positive flu results are being reported as consistently as every other day in moderate numbers.
  Warning: Positive flu results are being reported consistently on a daily basis in high numbers.
  Epidemic: Flu is widespread in the area.

Below is a seasonal histogram of FluWatch.com daily activity levels for the USA. (The height of each daily column corresponds to the sum of the totals for all four activity levels for the day.) See the comparable histogram for North Dakota. [This sentence added 11 Nov 2003.]

Following the flu activity plot is a diagram showing solar-wind proton-density, (preliminary data) as measured by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft. Time-scales of the graphs are matched. [Added 10 Nov 2003. Updated periodically.]

Source: ACE Science Center Cal Tech.
USA FluWatch.com Activity, Summers of 2002, 2003, and 2004
USA FluWatch.com Activity, September 2001 thru the end of 2004

It is speculated that the extremely high surge in solar wind activity, which started on October 21, 2003, may bear a causal relation to the late-October / early-November surges in influenza activity in the southern and southwestern parts of the United States and in two Rocky Mountain states in Canada. See Part 2. If so, two possibilities seem to exist. Either solar wind protons and heavier positive ions (which are deflected much less by Earth's magnetic field than are solar wind electrons) created a down-draft that drove circulating airborne viruses to the earth's surface, or what the author calls the Kite-Acheson effect(1) (which is an electrical lifting mechanism of particulate matter produced by solar wind induced electrical charge buildup on a planet's surface) caused some of last year's flu bugs to rise (fog-like) from the ground and to attack in second wave fashion. (The author is inclined toward the second possibility.) [Added 10 Nov 2003. Modified 11-17 Nov 2003 and on 24 Sep 2005.]

Postscript: The 21 Oct - 4 Nov Southern California fires were driven by westward moving Santa Anna winds which are generally characterized as being high in positive ion content. Second speculation: The increased solar wind activity, mentioned above, may have been a contributing factor in those tragedies. [Added 10 Nov 2003. Revised 22 Nov 2003.]

The author's speculation about a connection between heightened solar wind activity and the onset of influenza-like illnesses could turn out to be a matter of false cause. The timing may be coincidental or there may be some other connection. One possiblity of a different connection would be that solar-wind-driven electromagnetic disturbances in the Earth's biosphere might produce adverse affects on biological immune systems, leading to disease outbreaks. See ref (2) for one viewpoint on this. [Added 08 Dec 2003.]

See the Part 2 18 December 2003 entry, which deals with a third possibility for a space weather (i.e. comet tail delivery of pathogens) connection to the early season USA and Canada Flu outbreak, and especially to the avian influenza problems which began in November 2003 in eastern Asia. See Brig Klyce's Cosmic Ancestry page titled Influenza From Space?(3) where Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe carry on a dialog with critics about comet tail delivery systems for extraterrestrial biological visitors. [Added 26 Jan 2004.] See the 29 January entry in Part 2.

References

(2) [PDF] An Influence of the Heliogeophysical Conditions on Influenza Diseases in Azerbaijan During 1976-2000 - E.S. Babayev, R. Kh. Salman-Zadeh, F.E. Sadykhova, Sh. T. Shykahaliyeva. Abstract: The possible influence of solar and geomagnetic activities on influenza diseases is studied for the 1976-2000 interval. . . . Influenza epidemics usually begin 2-3 years before or 2-3 years after sunspot cycle maxima. We suppose that solar activity affects influenza epidemics mainly through geomagnetic activity. A forecast method for prophylactic measures is developed. [Added 8 December 2003. Edited]

(3) Influenza From Space? - Sir Fred Hoyle, Chandra Wickramasinghe, and critics.[Added 26 Jan 2004.]

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