Thursday, May 7, 2009
MY CONCLUSION: The Swine Flu
While The Mexico or Swine Flu keeps frightening people, WHO is still not be able to take a strong controlled action to the disease. On the other hand, the governments try to calm the traders and tourists not to make the economy gets worse.
The Mexico flu appeared suddenly last two weeks with an unclear origin. It has killed people more than a hundred in Mexico transmitted by human to human. The virus is spread to many other countries around the world. The Asian countries have provided the very strict restriction due to the great experiences from Bird Flu and Sars.
This outbreak is like another punishment from the god. It does not only kill a lot of people but also worsens the world economic situation. It scares investors, business people, consumers and tourists which are causing the big impact to everyone, even the relationship among countries.
However, people should not be panic or over act towards the news, but think reasonably to be able to cope with any worse situations in the future. This is to maintain the stability of the world economy for our own good.
While The Mexico or Swine Flu keeps frightening people, WHO is still not be able to take a strong controlled action to the disease. On the other hand, the governments try to calm the traders and tourists not to make the economy gets worse.
The Mexico flu appeared suddenly last two weeks with an unclear origin. It has killed people more than a hundred in Mexico transmitted by human to human. The virus is spread to many other countries around the world. The Asian countries have provided the very strict restriction due to the great experiences from Bird Flu and Sars.
This outbreak is like another punishment from the god. It does not only kill a lot of people but also worsens the world economic situation. It scares investors, business people, consumers and tourists which are causing the big impact to everyone, even the relationship among countries.
However, people should not be panic or over act towards the news, but think reasonably to be able to cope with any worse situations in the future. This is to maintain the stability of the world economy for our own good.
MY REACTION: The Swine Flu
1. Avian Flu, Economic crisis, Yellow Shirt, Red shirt and what now!?
Swine Flu!!!!! I’m so sick of these problems. I have no idea when our country is going to be in peace as before.
2. But good luck for me, for Thailand, the swine flu has not come to my country yet.3. Anyway, I don’t worry about this flu at all. I normally consume any kinds of pork. I enjoy eating pork as the same.
4. Turn on the TV for updating this news everyday recently is one of my favorite activities of the day. I’m starting to get used to the pictures of people with masks always showing on the news program.
5. Although, I’m not afraid of being its victim but I don’t think this is a good time to travel to other countries. So, my summer trip has to be canceled.
6. I try to take good care of myself, remain healthy and stay away from sick persons e.g. my close friends and my dad.
7. I kind of confuse about the argument in many news articles about the swine flu whether I should not be panic and stay calm because of the feasible control or be concerned about the pandemic level of the epidemic follow by the warnings.
8. It seems the flu outbreaks in the past caused so much more death and problems to people. They were the real harm of human. When compare to the Swine Flu, this outbreak is just a start. Hopefully, it will stop at the start real soon.
9. The bioterrorism might be possible in this case but, to be honest, I don’t want this word or this article to be published and builds up any inspiration to the real terrorist, because the regular weapons that they have used are worse enough.
10. As Asian, we’ve learnt from the experience. I support China reaction to Mexican. I would react the same way if I were China government.
11. One thing that WHO should take the most concern is the mutation of the disease.
12. The governments and responsible organizations should do the best to control the swine flu. That’s mean trying not to let this disease kill any more people.
13. By the way, the economy is getting hit by this epidemic for sure. So, save money should be a pretty good idea to do at this time. Start with not to eat pork because of the higher price.
Mexico flu cases easing but pandemic still likely
PASCAL FLETCHER | MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - May 03 2009 08:13
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's flu outbreak appeared to be easing with a fall in serious cases, the government said, but world health officials warned the unpredictable virus could still become a pandemic. (We have to always be ready for the worse situation in the future)
"Each day there are fewer serious cases and the mortality has been decreasing," Health Minister José Ángel Córdova told a news conference in Mexico City, where millions were heeding government advice to stay at home.
Of the more than 100 suspected deaths from the new H1N1 virus that have emerged in Mexico, 19 had been confirmed, Córdova said. Mexico had already scaled back from its original estimate of 176 suspected deaths.
However, new cases of the mongrel virus, which mixes swine, avian and human flu strains, were still being tracked across the world. Costa Rica, Italy and Ireland confirmed cases of the disease, which has now been found in 18 countries.
In Geneva, the World Health Organisation said H1N1 influenza had not spread in a sustained way outside North America, as required before the pandemic alert is raised to its highest level. But it said that would probably happen soon.
"I would still propose that a pandemic is imminent because we are seeing the disease spread," Michael Ryan, WHO director of Global Alert and Response, told a briefing on Saturday.
Few countries are ready to take chances with the new virus, widely dubbed swine flu.
In Canada, health officials said a traveler carried the virus from Mexico to Canada and infected his family and a herd of swine. (Now human to animals)
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the herd had been quarantined and the safety of the food supply was not affected.
Few are ready to take chances with the new virus, widely dubbed swine flu.
Action by the Chinese authorities to hold Mexicans in hotels and other places because of flu fears sparked a diplomatic row with Mexico.
In Hong Kong, police quarantined a hotel for one week after a Mexican guest was found to have the virus and Mexicans were also being confined in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere.
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa criticised China, saying Mexican citizens who showed no signs of illness at all were being "isolated, under unacceptable conditions." (Another problem, swine flu’s destroying the relationship between countries)
Hong Kong is under Chinese control but has its own government. The authorities in Hong Kong have confined around 300 guests and staff in the hotel.
Asia's trade and tourism could be hit by the flu outbreak but lessons from the SARS epidemic in 2003 would boost efforts to counter the effects, Jong-Wha Lee, the acting chief economist at the Asian Development Bank, said on Sunday.
"I think Asia has been well prepared because the region has good experience in countering SARS," Lee said on the Indonesian island of Bali where the ADB was holding its annual meeting.
Swine flu is a wakeup call (opinion)
Newsweek By D. A. Henderson: Apr 30, 2009
A complacent America, growing ever less concerned about the threat of pandemic bird flu, was startled last week by the sudden appearance of a major epidemic of swine flu in neighboring Mexico. Cases were soon reported from New York, California, Texas and Ohio, as well as France, New Zealand, Canada and Britain. So far, the apprehension and confusion about what to expect resembles the early days of the anthrax attacks of 2001, when a fine powder of weaponized anthrax bacteria showed up in the U.S. mail. Then, as now, health authorities were taken completely by surprise, and the public panicked out of all proportion to the actual threat.
The similarities between the flu and biological terrorism are not coincidental. In recent years the world has changed in ways that have made the threats of natural and man-made epidemics more and more alike. As we deal with the increasing prospects of a bioterrorist attack, we are also struggling with the challenge of emerging diseases: AIDS, pandemic strains of influenza and the "mad-cow disease" that terrified Britain only a decade ago. The way these threats unfold—and the responses they call for—are becoming ever more similar.
The central driver is the increasingly interconnected world we live in. Even the most remote areas of the planet can now be reached in less than 48 hours. Diseases now plaguing those in refugee camps, heavily populated and growing slums or the most remote tropical rainforests can, without warning, show up in far-flung towns and cities. A devastating hemorrhagic-disease epidemic in Africa or South America could rapidly become the hemorrhagic epidemic of Boston or Bordeaux. Even good clinicians rarely have the knowledge to diagnose and treat exotic tropical diseases. Until a month ago, our attention was focused on Asia—the source of the last two influenza pandemics, in 1957 and 1968—as the likely source for the next one. And yet it appeared in Mexico while we weren't looking.
A revolution in biology and medicine has recently given us powerful new tools to fight infectious diseases. It has also given us bioterrorism. The potential for terrorists to develop, grow and spread biological weapons has increased rapidly with the proliferation of knowledge and laboratories. As we discover the secrets of the cause and spread of disease, we are also finding ways of engineering a virus or bacterium to be more virulent or perhaps to evade antibiotics or vaccines. It's difficult to overstate the threat. As disastrous as the explosion of an atomic weapon would be, the strategic use of biological organisms such as smallpox, anthrax or plague could be even more devastating.
It is virtually impossible to stop or interdict terrorists bent on using biological weapons. The bioagents can be made in inexpensive labs, and are light and easily transported across borders without detection. A powder of anthrax or smallpox organisms would float as an invisible, odorless cloud, driven by breezes. Those unfortunate enough to inhale it would be unaware of the infection for days—and then suddenly develop a severe, disabling disease wholly unfamiliar to local physicians. As cases mount, health workers would isolate victims and distribute antibiotics or vaccines. The risk of panic would be great. In 2001, only 11 people inhaled anthrax and five died, but widespread fear of almost any powder led to the evacuation of hundreds of office complexes. What if hundreds had died?
The only way out of these potential catastrophes is to sharpen our health-care response. Rapid diagnosis and response are critical. We need to foster a greatly expanded international network of epidemiologists (so-called disease detectives) and laboratory scientists who continually investigate new outbreaks and look for better methods to diagnosis and treat diseases, wherever they might be occurring. States and communities play a pivotal role and are the basic foundation for combating major catastrophes, whether due to bioterrorism or pandemic influenza (or hurricanes or earthquakes, for that matter). Community organization and planning are key to success. Mayors, public-health authorities and hospitals need to plan how they will care for large numbers of patients and provide needed vaccines or drugs. Voluntary organizations such as the Red Cross must be part of the effort. The threat of a swine-flu pandemic is a good excuse to better organize and strengthen emergency plans. Other, even less pleasant surprises are in our future.
Panic as swine flu death toll hits 103
By: BangkokPost.com and AFP
Published: 27/04/2009 at 04:19 PM
The rising death toll from the Mexican swine flu epidemic sent a wave of panic around the world on Monday with the United States declaring public health emergency and other nations ordering border clampdowns.
In Thailand, airport health officials began using thermal screening equipment to monitor passengers arriving from the southern United States and Mexico for flu-like symptoms including fever.
China and Thailand joined Russia in banning meat imports from Mexico and the five US states where 20 swine flu cases have been confirmed.
Thai health officials joined other governments in warning against unnecessary travel to Mexico.
Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the number of confirmed and suspected swine flu deaths had hit 149. In the capital, Mexico City, residents donned blue face masks and stocked up on food and water in anticipation of a long lock-down. (This is the real crisis)
The Mexican health minister said the victims were aged between 20 and 50.
US and European officials on Monday advised citizens against most travel to Mexico as a swine flu virus that began there spread to the United States and beyond.
With 40 cases now reported in the US, President Barack Obama urged calm, saying there was reason for concern but not yet "a cause for alarm." (Alright !)
Cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the US, Canada and Spain. Scotland confirmed two cases on Monday evening.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon called for calm but governments around the world ordered emergency measures to contain suspected cases and stock markets blamed the flu for a new share battering.
The European Union began organising an emergency meeting of health ministers, and governments put strict security around flights from Mexico, taking any suspected cases into quarantine.
The World Health Organisation has warned that swine flu -- apparently born out of a mix of human and avian flu viruses that infected pigs -- could become a pandemic and called for all nations to "intensify surveillance".
The number of suspected cases in Mexico has reached 1,614, up from 1,324, the health minister said on national television.
President Calderon urged people to join efforts to contain the virus. He said Mexicans had to "move fast, but to maintain calm and cooperate with the authorities."
Mexico City was deserted after its 20 million residents were ordered to avoid crowds, and a football game at the 105,000-seat Aztec stadium was played with no fans on Sunday.
The only confirmed cases outside Mexico are the 20 in the United States and six in Canada.
Richard Besser, acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there were eight confirmed cases in New York City, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.
An official said the US government intends to release a quarter of the national stockpile of 50 million doses of the Tamiflu and Relenza anti-viral drugs.
The Defense Department, she added, had procured seven million treatment courses of Tamiflu.
After China, Thailand and Russia banned some US pork imports, US officials insisted it was virtually impossible to catch swine flu from eating meat as long as it is properly cooked. (In the other word, we can eat cooked pork !?)
Authorities across the Asia-Pacific region, which has in recent years been at the forefront of the SARS and bird flu epidemics, stepped up checks at airports and urged the public to be on guard for symptoms.
Ten New Zealand students who recently traveled to Mexico are "likely" to have contracted swine fever, Health Minister Tony Ryall said -- the first suspected cases in the region of more than three billion people.
Two people admitted to an Australian hospital with flu symptoms after returning from Mexico finally tested negative for deadly swine flu.
In Malaysia, Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said even travelers arriving from the United States were being screened. Thai authorities installed thermal scanners at Bangkok airport to monitor passengers.
Spain screened all passengers arriving off flights from Mexico and tested eight suspected swine flu cases. Two patients in Scotland were also under observation after their return from Mexico.
However, four suspicious cases in France were given the all-clear.
Nine people in Colombia and one in Brazil were placed under observation after they arrived from Mexico with flu symptoms.
In the Middle East, a 26-year-old Israeli was hospitalized in Netanya on returning from Mexico.
Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said it was ready to send out more stocks of Tamiflu, which it manufactures, but stock markets around the world took fright over the outbreak. (Yeah, they should)
Airline stocks in particular plunged on worries that governments could impose travel restrictions.
"Swine flu is ripping through the markets creating uncertainty in its wake," said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at financial spread-betting firm ETX Capital in London.
Health officials in Hong Kong, which was at the forefront of the Sars epidemic in 2003 and has since been on alert for bird flu, said they would detain anyone with symptoms of swine flu after arriving from an infected area.
China warned international travellers to be alert for any signs of infection and banned all pork imports from Mexico and parts of the United States, despite health officials saying the current outbreak was being spread by human-to-human contact.
The most common measure being put in place was the use of thermal scanners, which have been a common feature in many Asian airports since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) epidemic six years ago. (Sars and Bird Flu made us become the experts)
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the country was well prepared to deal with any new flu outbreak thanks to a plan drawn up during the 2003 bird flu scare, with stocks of anti-flu medication in place.
Japan said it would fast-track efforts to find a vaccine, while one company pulled back the families of staff based in Mexico, travel agencies scrapped package tours and drug stores reported a brisk trade in face masks.
Hong Kong announced some of the toughest measures to ward against an outbreak, warning that passengers arriving from affected areas and showing flu-like symptoms would be quarantined.
"We will take that patient to the hospital and let him stay there and have a test and until the test result is negative, we won't allow him to get out of the hospital," said Thomas Tsang, from the city's centre for health protection. (Is it overdoing?)
Airlines were broadcasting messages on selected inbound flights advising passengers to report symptoms such as sudden fever.
In Vietnam, where 56 people have died from bird flu since 2003, airport screening was focused on passengers arriving from North America, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported.
"The city must take immediate measures to prevent and cope with the dangerous disease," Nguyen Van Chau, the director of Ho Chi Minh City's health department, was quoted as saying.
Thailand, which recorded 17 fatal human cases of bird flu between 2004 and the last outbreak in August 2006, began screening passengers arriving at its main international airport in Bangkok.
Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon said that all planes arriving from the Americas would be required to report on the health status of passengers before receiving permission to land and that anyone with flu-like symptoms would be quarantined.
Despite the World Health organisation warning at the weekend that the virus had the potential to cause a pandemic, Taiwan Health Minister Yeh Chin-chuan urged the public to remain calm.
"There is no need to panic over the outbreak at the moment. The present situation is like a tropical storm emerging on the other side of the Pacific which poses no immediate threat to people here," he said.
Philippine authorities announced that they were screening passengers arriving from Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York and urged people to avoid hugging and kissing at public gatherings.
All air passengers arriving in Thailand from infected areas will be monitored by thermal scanners for signs of a fever, Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said on Monday.
Mr Witthaya said health cards detailing the outbreak of swine flu will be distributed to both departing and arriving passengers.
The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of influenza in Mexico and the US a “public health emergency of international concern” on Sunday.
Swine flu is a type of influenza virus usually found in pigs. The most common version is H1N1, and the current virus causing concern is a new variation of an H1N1 virus. (No way!)
Swine flu does not typically pass to humans directly, but such transmission can occur. The current swine flu virus is concerning to health experts because it has shown the ability to pass from human to human. (Such an easy transmission)
veterinarian Rungroj Thanawongnuvej, of Chulalongkorn University, said the deadly strain of the virus causing the infections had not been detected in Thailand. (Thanks god!, just leave us alone)
The difference between bird flu and swine flu is that swine flu is less deadly, with a lower proportion of fatalities.
The bird flu virus affects all systems of human body, but the swine virus affects only the respiratory system.
The symptoms include fever, runny nose, coughing, sore throat, vomiting and diarrhea, he said.Cooked pork will not transmit the virus to consumer, he said.
Thai pig raisers issued a statement insisting that Thai pork was safe to eat.
By: BangkokPost.com and AFP
Published: 27/04/2009 at 04:19 PM
The rising death toll from the Mexican swine flu epidemic sent a wave of panic around the world on Monday with the United States declaring public health emergency and other nations ordering border clampdowns.
In Thailand, airport health officials began using thermal screening equipment to monitor passengers arriving from the southern United States and Mexico for flu-like symptoms including fever.
China and Thailand joined Russia in banning meat imports from Mexico and the five US states where 20 swine flu cases have been confirmed.
Thai health officials joined other governments in warning against unnecessary travel to Mexico.
Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the number of confirmed and suspected swine flu deaths had hit 149. In the capital, Mexico City, residents donned blue face masks and stocked up on food and water in anticipation of a long lock-down. (This is the real crisis)
The Mexican health minister said the victims were aged between 20 and 50.
US and European officials on Monday advised citizens against most travel to Mexico as a swine flu virus that began there spread to the United States and beyond.
With 40 cases now reported in the US, President Barack Obama urged calm, saying there was reason for concern but not yet "a cause for alarm." (Alright !)
Cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the US, Canada and Spain. Scotland confirmed two cases on Monday evening.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon called for calm but governments around the world ordered emergency measures to contain suspected cases and stock markets blamed the flu for a new share battering.
The European Union began organising an emergency meeting of health ministers, and governments put strict security around flights from Mexico, taking any suspected cases into quarantine.
The World Health Organisation has warned that swine flu -- apparently born out of a mix of human and avian flu viruses that infected pigs -- could become a pandemic and called for all nations to "intensify surveillance".
The number of suspected cases in Mexico has reached 1,614, up from 1,324, the health minister said on national television.
President Calderon urged people to join efforts to contain the virus. He said Mexicans had to "move fast, but to maintain calm and cooperate with the authorities."
Mexico City was deserted after its 20 million residents were ordered to avoid crowds, and a football game at the 105,000-seat Aztec stadium was played with no fans on Sunday.
The only confirmed cases outside Mexico are the 20 in the United States and six in Canada.
Richard Besser, acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there were eight confirmed cases in New York City, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.
An official said the US government intends to release a quarter of the national stockpile of 50 million doses of the Tamiflu and Relenza anti-viral drugs.
The Defense Department, she added, had procured seven million treatment courses of Tamiflu.
After China, Thailand and Russia banned some US pork imports, US officials insisted it was virtually impossible to catch swine flu from eating meat as long as it is properly cooked. (In the other word, we can eat cooked pork !?)
Authorities across the Asia-Pacific region, which has in recent years been at the forefront of the SARS and bird flu epidemics, stepped up checks at airports and urged the public to be on guard for symptoms.
Ten New Zealand students who recently traveled to Mexico are "likely" to have contracted swine fever, Health Minister Tony Ryall said -- the first suspected cases in the region of more than three billion people.
Two people admitted to an Australian hospital with flu symptoms after returning from Mexico finally tested negative for deadly swine flu.
In Malaysia, Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said even travelers arriving from the United States were being screened. Thai authorities installed thermal scanners at Bangkok airport to monitor passengers.
Spain screened all passengers arriving off flights from Mexico and tested eight suspected swine flu cases. Two patients in Scotland were also under observation after their return from Mexico.
However, four suspicious cases in France were given the all-clear.
Nine people in Colombia and one in Brazil were placed under observation after they arrived from Mexico with flu symptoms.
In the Middle East, a 26-year-old Israeli was hospitalized in Netanya on returning from Mexico.
Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said it was ready to send out more stocks of Tamiflu, which it manufactures, but stock markets around the world took fright over the outbreak. (Yeah, they should)
Airline stocks in particular plunged on worries that governments could impose travel restrictions.
"Swine flu is ripping through the markets creating uncertainty in its wake," said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at financial spread-betting firm ETX Capital in London.
Health officials in Hong Kong, which was at the forefront of the Sars epidemic in 2003 and has since been on alert for bird flu, said they would detain anyone with symptoms of swine flu after arriving from an infected area.
China warned international travellers to be alert for any signs of infection and banned all pork imports from Mexico and parts of the United States, despite health officials saying the current outbreak was being spread by human-to-human contact.
The most common measure being put in place was the use of thermal scanners, which have been a common feature in many Asian airports since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) epidemic six years ago. (Sars and Bird Flu made us become the experts)
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the country was well prepared to deal with any new flu outbreak thanks to a plan drawn up during the 2003 bird flu scare, with stocks of anti-flu medication in place.
Japan said it would fast-track efforts to find a vaccine, while one company pulled back the families of staff based in Mexico, travel agencies scrapped package tours and drug stores reported a brisk trade in face masks.
Hong Kong announced some of the toughest measures to ward against an outbreak, warning that passengers arriving from affected areas and showing flu-like symptoms would be quarantined.
"We will take that patient to the hospital and let him stay there and have a test and until the test result is negative, we won't allow him to get out of the hospital," said Thomas Tsang, from the city's centre for health protection. (Is it overdoing?)
Airlines were broadcasting messages on selected inbound flights advising passengers to report symptoms such as sudden fever.
In Vietnam, where 56 people have died from bird flu since 2003, airport screening was focused on passengers arriving from North America, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported.
"The city must take immediate measures to prevent and cope with the dangerous disease," Nguyen Van Chau, the director of Ho Chi Minh City's health department, was quoted as saying.
Thailand, which recorded 17 fatal human cases of bird flu between 2004 and the last outbreak in August 2006, began screening passengers arriving at its main international airport in Bangkok.
Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon said that all planes arriving from the Americas would be required to report on the health status of passengers before receiving permission to land and that anyone with flu-like symptoms would be quarantined.
Despite the World Health organisation warning at the weekend that the virus had the potential to cause a pandemic, Taiwan Health Minister Yeh Chin-chuan urged the public to remain calm.
"There is no need to panic over the outbreak at the moment. The present situation is like a tropical storm emerging on the other side of the Pacific which poses no immediate threat to people here," he said.
Philippine authorities announced that they were screening passengers arriving from Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York and urged people to avoid hugging and kissing at public gatherings.
All air passengers arriving in Thailand from infected areas will be monitored by thermal scanners for signs of a fever, Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said on Monday.
Mr Witthaya said health cards detailing the outbreak of swine flu will be distributed to both departing and arriving passengers.
The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of influenza in Mexico and the US a “public health emergency of international concern” on Sunday.
Swine flu is a type of influenza virus usually found in pigs. The most common version is H1N1, and the current virus causing concern is a new variation of an H1N1 virus. (No way!)
Swine flu does not typically pass to humans directly, but such transmission can occur. The current swine flu virus is concerning to health experts because it has shown the ability to pass from human to human. (Such an easy transmission)
veterinarian Rungroj Thanawongnuvej, of Chulalongkorn University, said the deadly strain of the virus causing the infections had not been detected in Thailand. (Thanks god!, just leave us alone)
The difference between bird flu and swine flu is that swine flu is less deadly, with a lower proportion of fatalities.
The bird flu virus affects all systems of human body, but the swine virus affects only the respiratory system.
The symptoms include fever, runny nose, coughing, sore throat, vomiting and diarrhea, he said.Cooked pork will not transmit the virus to consumer, he said.
Thai pig raisers issued a statement insisting that Thai pork was safe to eat.
Mexico flu 'a potential pandemic'
BBC: Page last updated at 02:55 GMT, Sunday, 26 April 2009 03:55
A new flu virus suspected of killing as many as 81 people in Mexico has the potential to become a pandemic, the World Health Organization's chief says
Margaret Chan said the outbreak was a "health emergency of international concern" and must be closely monitored.
Health experts say tests so far seem to link the illnesses in Mexico with a swine flu virus in the southern US.
Several people have also fallen ill in the US, and the authorities there are watching the situation.
A top US health official said the strain of swine flu had spread widely and could not be contained.
Speaking after a meeting of the WHO's emergency committee, Mrs Chan said that "the current events constitute a public health emergency of international concern".
Have your say
I work as a resident doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Mexico City and sadly, the situation is far from ‘under control’
Yeny Gregorio Davila, Mexico City
The WHO is advising all member states to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations - particularly among young healthy adults.
Officials said most of those killed so far in Mexico were young adults (That’s my age) - rather than more vulnerable children and the elderly.
The committee has not recommended declaring an international public health emergency and raising the global pandemic alert level, a move that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures. (so, what should be the most concern?)
New strain
At least some of the cases show a new version of the H1N1 swine flu sub-strain - a respiratory disease which infects pigs but only sporadically infects humans.
H1N1 is the same strain that causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans, but the newly-detected version contains genetic material from versions which usually affect pigs and birds.
The virus is spread through coughs and sneezes and through direct and indirect contact between people.
Mexican officials have confirmed 20 deaths from the virus and are investigating dozens more.
Schools, museums and libraries have been closed across the capital's region and people are being urged to avoid shaking hands or sharing crockery.
Hundreds of public events have been suspended and schools in the Mexico City area have been closed until 6 May.
Two previously sold-out soccer matches were played in empty stadiums to avoid potentially spreading the virus.
Health officials are isolating individuals suspected of having the virus and inspecting their homes.
The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico has recommended measures to avoid further contagion at Mass this Sunday.
Priests have been told to place communion wafers in the hands of worshippers rather than in their mouths and to suggest to the congregation that kissing or shaking hands be avoided during the service. (The deadly flu has affected all of us)
'Caution'
In the US, 11 people are now known to have been infected with the new strain - seven people in California, two in Texas, and two in Kansas.
There are also eight suspected cases in New York City after 200 students at a high school fell ill.
Specimens were taken from nine students, and eight were determined to be probable cases of swine flu, said city health commissioner Dr Thomas Frieden.
Those samples are now being examined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
No children had required hospital treatment and many had fully recovered, said Dr Frieden, but the school could remain closed out of "an abundance of caution".
He urged people to maintain basic hygiene, such and covering their mouths when coughing and sneezing, washing hands regularly and keeping surfaces clean.
Dr Frieden said most people would not need to take antiviral medication if they fell ill, unless they had an underlying medical condition.
Hopeful sign
CDC officials have said that with cases arising in so many communities, containment is unlikely to be feasible.
There is currently no vaccine for the new strain.
Tom Skinner of the CDC told the BBC that it was too early to tell how widespread the impact would be.
"We don't know how well or efficiently this virus is spreading and how easily it is going to be sustained in the human population."
He said it was not yet clear which side of the border the virus had originated.
But the US was likely to take "normal and routine" steps within the next few days to screen passengers coming into the US and to distribute information, he said.
The CDC plans to send experts to Mexico to help investigate the virus which has infected more than 1,000 people in the country.
The BBC science editor Susan Watts says the new strain is a classic "re-assortment" - a combination feared most by those watching for the flu pandemic.
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