Europe Urges Citizens to Avoid U.S. and Mexico Tra

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   Europe Urges Citizens to Avoid U.S. and Mexico Travel 

Hoping to head off a global pandemic of swine flu that has surfaced in North America, the European Union's health commissioner on Monday urged Europeans to avoid traveling to the United States or Mexico if doing so is not essential. 

The warning came as health officials in Spain confirmed early Monday that a man hospitalized in eastern Spain had tested positive for swine flu, becoming what appeared to be Europe's first case of the disease. Health authorities were also testing 17 other suspected cases across Spain, a major hub for travel between Mexico and Europe. 
Britain and other European Union nations had already issued travel advisories for those traveling to Mexico, but the European Union's health commissioner went a step further on Monday in urging Europeans to avoid nonessential trips. Europeans, she told reporters in Luxembourg, "should avoid traveling to Mexico or the United States of America unless it is very urgent for them." 
Other nations imposed travel bans or made plans to quarantine air travelers over the weekend as additional confirmed cases appeared in Mexico and Canada. At least 20 cases have been confirmed in the United States, including eight in New York City. 
Top global flu experts struggled to predict how dangerous the new A (H1N1) swine flu strain would be as it became clear that they had too little information about Mexico's outbreak -- in particular how many cases had occurred in what is thought to be a month before the outbreak was detected, and whether the virus was mutating to be more lethal, or less.
"We’re in a period in which the picture is evolving,” said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, deputy director general of the World Health Organization. "We need to know the extent to which it causes mild and serious infections.”
Without that knowledge -- which is unlikely to emerge soon because only two laboratories, in Atlanta and Winnipeg, Canada, can confirm a case -- his agency's panel of experts was unwilling to raise the global pandemic alert level, even though it officially saw the outbreak as a public health emergency and opened its emergency response center.
As a news conference in Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the United States’s emergency declaration “standard operating procedure,” and said she would rather call it a “declaration of emergency preparedness.”
"It's like declaring one for a hurricane," she said. "It means we can release funds and take other measures. The hurricane may not actually hit."
American investigators said they expected more cases here, but noted that virtually all so far had been mild and urged Americans not to panic.
The speed and the scope of the world’s response showed the value of preparations made because of the avian flu and SARS scares, public health experts said.
The emergency declaration in the United States lets the government free more money for antiviral drugs and give some previously unapproved tests and drugs to children. One-quarter of the national stockpile of 50 million courses of antiflu drugs will be released.
Border patrols and airport security officers are to begin asking travelers if they have had the flu or a fever; those who appear ill will be stopped, taken aside and given masks while they arrange for medical care.
"This is moving fast and we expect to see more cases," Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at the news conference with Ms. Napolitano. "But we view this as a marathon."
He advised Americans to wash their hands frequently, to cover coughs and sneezes and to stay home if they felt ill; but he stopped short of advice now given in Mexico to wear masks and not kiss or touch anyone. He praised decisions to close individual schools in New York and Texas but did not call for more widespread closings.
Besides the eight New York cases, officials said they had confirmed seven in California, two in Kansas, two in Texas and one in Ohio. The virus looked identical to the one in Mexico believed to have killed 103 people — including 22 people whose deaths were confirmed to be from swine flu — and sickened about 1,600. As of Sunday night, there were no swine flu deaths in the United States, and one hospitalization.
Other governments tried to contain the infection amid reports of potential new cases including in New Zealand.
Dr. Fukuda of the W.H.O. said his agency would decide Tuesday whether to raise the pandemic alert level to 4. Such a move would prompt more travel bans, and the agency has been reluctant historically to take actions that hurt member nations.

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Midas Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Adviser Group Joined: September 05 2006 Status: Offline Points: 295	Post Options Post Reply Quote Midas Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Europe Urges Citizens to Avoid U.S. and Mexico Tra Posted: April 27 2009 at 5:48am
	Europe Urges Citizens to Avoid U.S. and Mexico Travel Hoping to head off a global pandemic of swine flu that has surfaced in North America, the European Union's health commissioner on Monday urged Europeans to avoid traveling to the United States or Mexico if doing so is not essential. The warning came as health officials in Spain confirmed early Monday that a man hospitalized in eastern Spain had tested positive for swine flu, becoming what appeared to be Europe's first case of the disease. Health authorities were also testing 17 other suspected cases across Spain, a major hub for travel between Mexico and Europe. Britain and other European Union nations had already issued travel advisories for those traveling to Mexico, but the European Union's health commissioner went a step further on Monday in urging Europeans to avoid nonessential trips. Europeans, she told reporters in Luxembourg, "should avoid traveling to Mexico or the United States of America unless it is very urgent for them." Other nations imposed travel bans or made plans to quarantine air travelers over the weekend as additional confirmed cases appeared in Mexico and Canada. At least 20 cases have been confirmed in the United States, including eight in New York City. Top global flu experts struggled to predict how dangerous the new A (H1N1) swine flu strain would be as it became clear that they had too little information about Mexico's outbreak -- in particular how many cases had occurred in what is thought to be a month before the outbreak was detected, and whether the virus was mutating to be more lethal, or less. "We’re in a period in which the picture is evolving,” said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, deputy director general of the World Health Organization. "We need to know the extent to which it causes mild and serious infections.” Without that knowledge -- which is unlikely to emerge soon because only two laboratories, in Atlanta and Winnipeg, Canada, can confirm a case -- his agency's panel of experts was unwilling to raise the global pandemic alert level, even though it officially saw the outbreak as a public health emergency and opened its emergency response center. As a news conference in Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the United States’s emergency declaration “standard operating procedure,” and said she would rather call it a “declaration of emergency preparedness.” "It's like declaring one for a hurricane," she said. "It means we can release funds and take other measures. The hurricane may not actually hit." American investigators said they expected more cases here, but noted that virtually all so far had been mild and urged Americans not to panic. The speed and the scope of the world’s response showed the value of preparations made because of the avian flu and SARS scares, public health experts said. The emergency declaration in the United States lets the government free more money for antiviral drugs and give some previously unapproved tests and drugs to children. One-quarter of the national stockpile of 50 million courses of antiflu drugs will be released. Border patrols and airport security officers are to begin asking travelers if they have had the flu or a fever; those who appear ill will be stopped, taken aside and given masks while they arrange for medical care. "This is moving fast and we expect to see more cases," Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at the news conference with Ms. Napolitano. "But we view this as a marathon." He advised Americans to wash their hands frequently, to cover coughs and sneezes and to stay home if they felt ill; but he stopped short of advice now given in Mexico to wear masks and not kiss or touch anyone. He praised decisions to close individual schools in New York and Texas but did not call for more widespread closings. Besides the eight New York cases, officials said they had confirmed seven in California, two in Kansas, two in Texas and one in Ohio. The virus looked identical to the one in Mexico believed to have killed 103 people — including 22 people whose deaths were confirmed to be from swine flu — and sickened about 1,600. As of Sunday night, there were no swine flu deaths in the United States, and one hospitalization. Other governments tried to contain the infection amid reports of potential new cases including in New Zealand. Dr. Fukuda of the W.H.O. said his agency would decide Tuesday whether to raise the pandemic alert level to 4. Such a move would prompt more travel bans, and the agency has been reluctant historically to take actions that hurt member nations.