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New Swine Flu Cases in Europe, US, Latin America. |
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Polly
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Posted: May 04 2009 at 3:21pm |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8488013 New swine flu cases in Europe, US, Latin America AP foreign, Monday May 4 2009 JAMES ANDERSON Associated Press Writer= MEXICO CITY (AP) The
swine flu epidemic spread deeper into the United States, Europe and Latin
America â and in Canada, back to pigs â even as Mexico's government hinted
Sunday it may soon be time to reopen businesses and schools in the nation where
the outbreak likely began. The virus spread to Colombia in the first confirmed
case in South America, worrisome because flu season is about to begin in the
Southern Hemisphere. More cases were confirmed in Europe and North America;
health officials said at least 1,000 people have been sickened worldwide. Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said swine flu is spreading just as
easily as regular winter flu. "The good news is when we look at this virus
right now, we're not seeing some of the things in the virus that have been
associated in the past with more severe flu," Besser said. "That's
encouraging, but it doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet." On Sunday, health officials raised the number of
confirmed U.S. swine flu cases to 245 in 35 states. The new number, up from 160
on Saturday, reflects streamlining in federal procedures and the results of
tests by states, which have only recently begun confirming cases, said Dr. Anne
Schuchat of the CDC. Mexican President Felipe Calderon said a nationwide
shutdown and an aggressive informational campaign appeared to have helped
curtail the outbreak in Mexico. "We have succeeded in detaining or at least
slowing the spread of the virus precisely because the measures have been the
correct ones," Calderon said in an interview with state television
broadcast Sunday night. Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said
the virus had killed at least 22 people in Mexico, raising the toll from 19.
The last confirmed death occurred April 29, he said. Cordova added that the virus had sickened at least
568 people and apparently peaked in Mexico between April 23 and April 28,
slowing after the drastic nationwide closings of schools, theaters and
businesses. "The evolution of the epidemic is now in its
declining phase," Cordova said. He said officials would decide Monday whether to
extend the shutdown or allow schools and businesses to reopen on Wednesday. Pablo Kuri, an epidemiologist advising Cordova,
told The Associated Press on Sunday that tests have confirmed a swine flu death
in Mexico City on April 11, two days earlier than what had been believed to be
the first death. Kuri also said there have been no deaths among
health care workers treating swine flu patients in Mexico, an indication that
the virus may not be as contagious or virulent as initially feared. Cordova presented the most comprehensive
description yet of the dead, although no conclusions have yet been drawn about
how their characteristics may have contributed to their deaths. He said 15 were female and seven were men. One
possible explanation could be that women get poorer health care in Mexico, he
said. Cordova also said only 4 percent were unemployed;
the rest either had jobs or were housewives and students. More than 50 percent
had not graduated from high school and only 11 percent had university
education. The closed events made for a surreal Sunday in
Mexico, as parishioners celebrated Mass via television, camera operators were
the only ones in stadium bleachers and parks, museums, restaurants, theaters
and other attractions were closed. Sunday also marked the official start of
campaigning for July 5 congressional elections â but all public campaigning
was banned to prevent gatherings where the virus could spread. Gabriela Cuevas Barron of the conservative National
Action Party giddily claimed she was launching Mexico's first virtual campaign,
promising in a Webcast to work for a cleaner and safer Mexico City â for now,
through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Meanwhile, the leftist Democratic
Revolution Party was already up with a Facebook page for its candidates. The United States said it had sent 100,000
protection kits worth $1 million to Mexico for use by first responders. The
kits include respiratory masks, protective goggles and overalls. In all, the
U.S. has sent $16 million in aid to Mexico since the emergency began, the U.S.
Embassy said. Officials in New Mexico announced Sunday that 14
schools in four towns were being closed for at least a week after the state's
first swine flu case was confirmed, and the New Mexico Activities Association
suspended all athletic and activity programs until further notice at member
schools across the state. In Arizona, all 10 public schools in the border
city of Nogales canceled classes this week after a student tested positive for
swine flu. California officials, meanwhile, suspended all
visitations at prisons pending results of tests on an ill inmate at Centinela
State Prison. In the Canadian province of Alberta, officials
quarantined about 220 pigs that became infected from a worker who had recently
returned from Mexico. It was the first documented case of the H1N1 virus being
passed from a human to another species. Canada stressed that pigs often get the
flu and there's no danger in eating pork. Egypt has ordered all pigs in the country
slaughtered as a precaution, sparking riots Sunday by pig farmers who threw
stones at police. According to tallies by the CDC, World Health
Organization and governments, there were 101 confirmed cases of swine flu in
Canada; 40 in Spain; 18 in Britain; eight in Germany; four in New Zealand; two
each in Italy, France, Israel, and South Korea; one each in Colombia, Costa
Rica, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong, Denmark and the Netherlands. Fear spread in other parts of the globe, much of it
directed at Mexican nationals or those who have traveled to Mexico. China quarantined more than 70 Mexican travelers in
hospitals and hotels there, and Mexicans on arriving flights were being taken
into isolation, said Mexico's ambassador, Jorge Guajardo. Even the Mexican
consul in Guangzhou was briefly held after returning from a vacation in
Cambodia, Guajardo said. "In many cases we have gotten reports that
they were being quarantined for the sole fact that they had a Mexican passport,
whether or not they came from Mexico, whether or not they had been in Mexico,
whether or not they had been in contact with someone else from Mexico,"
Guajardo said. Hong Kong isolated 350 people in a hotel after a
Mexican traveler there was determined to have the swine flu. In his TV interview, Calderon complained about such
treatment. "I think it's unfair that because we have been
honest and transparent with the world some countries and places are taking
repressive and discriminatory measures because of ignorance and
disinformation," Calderon said. "There are always people who are
seizing on this pretext to assault Mexicans, even just verbally." The president did not single out any country. But
the Foreign Relations Department said afterward that Mexico was sending a
chartered jetliner Monday to bring back any citizens who wanted to leave China.
A statement said the plane would go to several Chinese cities "where
Mexicans have expressed their intention to return to Mexico." China's Foreign Ministry denied it was
discriminating against Mexicans. In Trinidad, crew aboard a Mexican tanker had been
isolated since Friday at the Point Lisas Port. The Ministry of Health said
Sunday they were tested and cleared of any flu infection and that the vessel
was expected to be released. Health officials around the world cautioned that
despite encouraging signs, swine flu still poses a very real threat. "Most experts would agree that the current
outbreak that we are experiencing is mild to moderate in severity," Dr.
Jon Andrus of the Pan American Health Organization said in a teleconference
from Washington. "That is not to say that things cannot change very
rapidly and very dramatically." Under one scenario, the virus could peter out now,
only to roar back in the fall when flu seasons begins. That's why health
officials are watching the Southern Hemisphere so closely. "Certainly, maybe, this current round of activity has peaked, but we are only 10 days into this outbreak," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told reporters in Switzerland. "I think we would want to wait a while before making a definitive decision." --- Associated Press writers contributing to this report included Christopher Bodeen in Beijing, Bradley S. Klapper in Zurich and Alexandra Olson, Paul Haven and E. Eduardo Castillo in Mexico City.
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