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The country is in the grip of three emerging flu or flulike epidemics: an early start to the annual flu season with an unusually aggressive virus, a surge in a new type of norovirus, and the worst whooping cough outbreak in 60 years. And these are all developing amid the normal winter highs for the many viruses that cause symptoms on the "colds and flu" spectrum.

Influenza is widespread, and causing local crises. On Wednesday, Boston's mayor declared a public health emergency as cases flooded hospital emergency rooms.

Google's national flu trend maps, which track flu-related searches, are almost solid red (for "intense activity") and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly FluView maps, which track confirmed cases, are nearly solid brown (for "widespread activity").

"Yesterday, I saw a construction worker, a big strong guy in his Carhartts who looked like he could fall off a roof without noticing it," said Dr. Beth Zeeman, an emergency room doctor for MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, Mass., just outside Boston. "He was in a fetal position with fever and chills, like a wet rag. When I see one of those cases, I just tighten up my mask a little."

Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston started asking visitors with even mild cold symptoms to wear masks and to avoid maternity wards. The hospital has treated 532 confirmed influenza patients this season and admitted 167, even more than it did by this date during the 2009-10 swine flu pandemic.

At Brigham and Women's Hospital, 100 patients were crowded into spaces licensed for 53. Beds lined halls and pressed against vending machines. Overflow patients sat on benches in the lobby wearing surgical masks.

"Today was the first time I think I was experiencing my first pandemic," said Heidi Crim, the nursing director, who saw both the swine flu and SARS outbreaks here. Adding to the problem, she said, many staff members were at home sick and supplies like flu test swabs were running out.

Nationally, deaths and hospitalizations are still below epidemic thresholds. But experts do not expect that to remain true. Pneumonia usually shows up in national statistics only a week or two after emergency rooms report surges in cases, and deaths start rising a week or two after that, said Dr. Gregory A. Poland, a vaccine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The predominant flu strain circulating is an H3N2, which typically kills more people than the H1N1 strains that usually predominate; the relatively lethal 2003-4 "Fujian flu" season was overwhelmingly H3N2.

No cases have been resistant to Tamiflu, which can ease symptoms if taken within 48 hours, and this year's flu shot is well-matched to the H3N2 strain, the C.D.C. said. Flu shots are imperfect, especially in the elderly, whose immune systems may not be strong enough to produce enough antibodies.

Simultaneously, the country is seeing a large and early outbreak of norovirus, the "cruise ship flu" or "stomach flu," said Dr. Aron J. Hall of the C.D.C.'s viral gastroenterology branch. It includes a new strain, which first appeared in Australia and is known as the Sydney 2012 variant.

This week, Maine's health department said that state was seeing a large spike in cases. Cities across Canada reported norovirus outbreaks so serious that hospitals were shutting down whole wards for disinfection because patients were getting infected after moving into the rooms of those who had just recovered. The classic symptoms of norovirus are "explosive" diarrhea and "projectile" vomiting, which can send infectious particles flying yards away.

"I also saw a woman I'm sure had norovirus," Dr. Zeeman said. "She said she'd gone to the bathroom 14 times at home and 4 times since she came into the E.R. You can get dehydrated really quickly that way."

This month, the C.D.C. said the United States was having its biggest outbreak of pertussis in 60 years; there were about 42,000 confirmed cases, the highest total since 1955. The disease is unrelated to flu but causes a hacking, constant cough and breathlessness. While it is unpleasant, adults almost always survive; the greatest danger is to infants, especially premature ones with undeveloped lungs. Of the 18 recorded deaths in 2012, all but three were of infants under age 1.

That outbreak is worst in cold-weather states, including Colorado, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Vermont.

Although most children are vaccinated several times against pertussis, those shots wear off with age. It is possible, the authorities said, that a new, safer vaccine introduced in the 1990s gives protection that does not last as long, so more teenagers and adults are vulnerable.

And, Dr. Poland said, if many New Yorkers are catching laryngitis, as has been reported, it is probably a rhinovirus. "It's typically a sore, really scratchy throat, and you sometimes lose your voice," he said.

Though flu cases in New York City are rising rapidly, the city health department has no plans to declare an emergency, largely because of concern that doing so would drive mildly sick people to emergency rooms, said Dr. Jay K. Varma, deputy director for disease control. The city would prefer people went to private doctors or, if still healthy, to pharmacies for flu shots. Nursing homes have had worrisome outbreaks, he said, and nine elderly patients have died. Homes need to be more alert, vaccinate patients, separate those who fall ill and treat them faster with antivirals, he said.

Dr. Susan I. Gerber of the C.D.C.'s respiratory diseases branch, said her agency has not seen any unusual spike of rhinovirus, parainfluenza, adenovirus, coronavirus or the dozens of other causes of the "common cold," but the country is having its typical winter surge of some, like respiratory syncytial virus "that can mimic flulike symptoms, especially in young children."

The C.D.C. and the local health authorities continue to advocate getting flu shots. Although it takes up to two weeks to build immunity, "we don't know if the season has peaked yet," said Dr. Joseph Bresee, chief of prevention in the agency's flu division.

Flu shots and nasal mists contain vaccines against three strains, the H3N2, the H1N1 and a B. Thus far this season, Dr. Bresee said, H1N1 cases have been rare, and the H3N2 component has been a good match against almost all the confirmed H3N2 samples the agency has tested.

About a fifth of all flus this year thus far are from B strains. That part of the vaccine is a good match only 70 percent of the time, because two B's are circulating.

For that reason, he said, flu shots are being reformulated. Within two years, they said, most will contain vaccines against both B strains.

Joanna Constantine, 28, a stylist at the Guy Thomas Hair Salon on West 56th Street in Manhattan, said she recently was so sick that she was off work and in bed for five days — and silenced by laryngitis for four of them.

She did not have the classic flu symptoms — a high fever, aches and chills — so she knew it was probably something else.

Still, she said, it scared her enough that she will get a flu shot next year. She had not bothered to get one since her last pregnancy, she said. But she has a 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter, "and my little guys get theirs every year."

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An explosion went off in a car near a bus in Tel Aviv on Thursday in what police said was a criminally motivated assassination attempt. Four people were slightly injured.

In a country with a long history of bus bombings by Palestinian militants, such explosions immediately cause jitters about terrorism. And the explosion went off close to the site of a bus bombing in November.

Israeli media offered various reports of how the blast occurred. Some cited witnesses as saying a motorcyclist tossed an explosive device at the car, and other witnesses as saying the motorcyclist attached a bomb to the vehicle.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said he couldn't confirm Israeli media reports that the target was a well-known underworld figure.

Mr. Schmidt, part of private delegation led by former Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico that also sought to press Pyongyang on humanitarian and diplomatic issues, said North Korea risked falling further behind if it did not provide more access to cell phone service and the Internet.

"As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth and it will make it harder for them to catch up economically," he told reporters after arriving at Beijing International Airport. "We made that alternative very, very clear."

Their visit, the highest-profile delegation of Americans since Kim Jong-un took power upon the death of his father in December 2011, comes at precarious time for U.S.-North Korean relations following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month that drew international condemnation. North Korea insists its Unha-3 rocket is part of a peaceful space program; South Korean and American intelligence officials say the North was testing a long-range ballistic missile that could one day reach the United States.

The State Department was not exactly thrilled with Mr. Richardson's freelance diplomacy, at least not publicly. A spokeswoman described Mr. Richardson's visit as not "particularly helpful" given that the U.S. is seeking to rally support for tougher international sanctions on Pyongyang. Some North Korea experts have described the self-described humanitarian mission as naïve, saying it will ultimately serve Pyongyang's propaganda needs.

Although Mr. Richardson did not address the criticism on Thursday, he said his hosts were receptive during discussions about ways to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula as well as his effort to seek the release of a Korean-American who was detained in November in the north of the country.

"We had a very positive reaction," Mr. Richardson said.

The delegation did not meet with the detained American, Kenneth Bae, 44, a tour operator from Washington who has been accused of "hostile acts," but Mr. Richardson said he was assured Mr. Bae was being treated well and that judicial proceedings would begin soon.

There was one tangible success of their visit: the authorities, Mr. Richardson said, had agreed to deliver to Mr. Bae a letter from his son.

But Mr. Richardson's efforts to promote peace, love and understanding were overshadowed by the billion-dollar wattage of Mr. Schmidt, a vocal proponent of Internet freedom. The delegation, which included Mr. Schmidt's daughter and Jared Cohen, a former State Department official who heads Google's think tank, made highly choreographed visits to several sites meant to display the nation's information technology prowess.

At the elite Kim Il Sung University, computer science students showed off their ability to surf the Internet, stopping on a Web site run by Cornell University. At one point, a student opened up Google's site and typed in New York City, according to the Associated Press, the only American news organization with a bureau in North Korea. "That's where I work," Mr. Schmidt exclaimed, pointing to a photograph on Wikipedia. "That's where I live."

For most North Koreans, using a computer, let alone accessing Google, is all but impossible. Although the country has global broadband Internet, few people are allowed to access it, and if they do, their surfing is strictly monitored. Experts say fewer than a thousand people have such access, most of them software developers, government officials and well-connected party loyalists.

At the main library in Pyongyang, the Grand People's Study House, the Americans watched as users in thick winter coats crowded around computer screens that provide access to North Korea's Intranet, known as Kwangmyong, which serves up government-approved documents, books and archival newspapers.

They later toured the Korea Computer Center, an incubator for domestic software and hardware, where they played with a homegrown tablet and other gadgetry, most of it developed with help from Russia, China and India. A quote from Kim Jong Il, the current leader's father, graced the room: "Now is the era for science and technology. It is the era of computers."

Since he came to power last year, the 20-something Mr. Kim, who was educated in a Swiss boarding school, has emphasized the importance of science and technology for economic development. But he has made no mention of addressing North Korea's status as one of the world's least wired nations.

Mr. Schmidt appears to have learned a great deal from his visit. Speaking to reporters in Beijing, he spoke in some detail about the nation's 3G cellular phone service, developed by the Egyptian telecom company Orascom. But he noted with disappointment that little more than one million of the country's 24 million citizens had cell phones.

That system, he added hopefully, had the potential to provide Internet access but that so far the feature was unavailable. "It would be very easy for them to turn it on," he said.

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Police say a bomb that appeared to be targeting paramilitary soldiers has exploded in a commercial area in southwest Pakistan, killing 11 people.

Senior police officer Zubair Mehmood says the blast Thursday also wounded 27 people, including three security officials. The attack took place in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

Another police officer, Mohammed Rafique, says the bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying paramilitary soldiers.

Baluchistan has experienced a decades-long insurgency by nationalists who demand greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's natural resources. It is also home to many Islamist militants, including the Taliban.

Joshua P. Rechnitz, the reclusive philanthropist behind the project, said on Wednesday that he and his team had withdrawn their proposal for the park and would seek another location in or around the city for the indoor sports complex.

For cyclists, it is a velodrome dream deferred. For some Brooklyn residents, who balked at the use of an outsize park parcel for a niche sport, it is good riddance.

But in the end, supporters said, the neighborhood was just too expensive.

The decision to abandon the Brooklyn park, reached at a meeting on Monday, came after planners were unable to produce a design that could fit within the bounds of Mr. Rechnitz's $50 million pledge for its construction and maintenance, despite months of efforts.

"You can't build a facility of this nature, at this site, at this budget," said Greg J. Brooks, the executive director of N.Y.C. Fieldhouse, the nonprofit group behind the project. "We're very excited and eager to find a new home for this recreation center and velodrome. The funding remains intact."

The money came from Mr. Rechnitz, 47, in what is among the largest individual gifts in the history of New York City's parks. A central requirement of the gift had been the inclusion of the bicycle racing track in the complex.

"The New York metropolitan area deserves a world-class cycling and recreation center," Mr. Rechnitz said in a statement on Wednesday. "I greatly regret that this cannot happen in Brooklyn Bridge Park, but I am confident that we will find a new home for the field house in the very near future."

Some Brooklyn Heights residents who live near the proposed site, at Furman Street near Pier 5, had objected to the size of the building and its potential effect on traffic and parking. Others chafed at the notion that a millionaire could, with a large donation, impose an obscure sport on a city park.

But Mr. Brooks, a former deputy comptroller for the city, said it was the costs arising from the site, rather than any local opposition, that had killed the deal.

For instance, the location meant that the roof of the building — visible to those walking above on the Brooklyn promenade nearby — had to be "aesthetic," he said, driving up the price.

Hurricane Sandy also raised concerns about the low-lying site, which did not flood during the storm but sits only about a foot above where the waters came. "A foot doesn't give a lot of room for comfort," Mr. Brooks said, adding that the plan called for raising the structure a few feet off the ground.

The nonprofit organization, he said, had also agreed to provide a boathouse and maintenance for the complex.

The design had been scaled back, reducing the size of the building to 95,000 square feet from 120,000 square feet, and the number of fixed spectator seats to 500 from 2,499, Mr. Brooks said. But even with those changes — and an added $10 million from Mr. Rechnitz for the reserve fund on top of his original $40 million pledge — the project remained stubbornly in the red.

There was no talk of the park making up the difference in the overruns, said Regina Myer, the president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation.

"We are grateful that we were considered for this facility, and frankly we are saddened that it won't come to fruition in the park," Ms. Myer said.

Ms. Myer said that before Mr. Rechnitz's gift, the site, now occupied by a one-story concrete warehouse, had been planned as a garage for park-maintenance equipment, as a storage area for recreational boats and as restrooms. Officials were looking to return to that plan, she said.

Mr. Rechnitz, a media-shy philanthropist, art collector and cyclist, had considered locations in New York and New Jersey before settling on the Brooklyn park. Many of those locations would be considered again, Mr. Brooks said.