Deadly new flu breaks out in Mexico, U.S.

The Scotsman

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By Alistair Bell and Noel Randewich

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A strain of flu never seen before has killed as many as 61 people in Mexico and has spread into the United States, where eight people have been infected but recovered, health officials said on Friday.

Mexico's government said at least 16 people have died of the disease in central Mexico and that it may also have been responsible for 45 other deaths.

The World Health Organization said tests showed the virus in 12 of the Mexican patients had the same genetic structure as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas.

Because there is clearly human-to-human spread of the new virus, raising fears of a major outbreak, Mexico's government canceled classes for millions of children in its sprawling capital city and surrounding areas.

"Our concern has grown as of yesterday," U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acting director Dr. Richard Besser told reporters in a telephone briefing.

It first looked mostly like a swine virus but closer analysis showed it is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses, according to the CDC.

"We do not have enough information to fully assess the health threat posed by this new swine flu virus," Besser said.

Humans can occasionally catch swine flu from pigs but rarely have they been known to pass it on to other people

The WHO said it was ready to use rapid containment measures if needed, including antivirals, and that both the United States and Mexico are well equipped to handle the outbreak.

Both the WHO and the CDC said there was no need to alter travel arrangements in Mexico or the United States.

CLOSE TO 1,000 SUSPECTED CASES IN MEXICO

Eight people were infected with the new strain in California and Texas, but all of them have recovered. Mexico said it had close to 1,000 suspected cases there.

The CDC's Besser said scientists were working to understand why there are so many deaths in Mexico when the infections in the United States seem mild.

Worldwide, seasonal flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people in an average year, but the flu season for North America should have been winding down.

The U.S. government said it was closely following the new cases. "The White House is taking the situation seriously and monitoring for any new developments. The president has been fully briefed," an administration official said.

Mexico's government cautioned people not to shake hands or kiss when greeting or to share food, glasses or cutlery for fear of infection.

The outbreak jolted residents of the Mexican capital, one of the world's biggest cities and home to some 20 million people

One pharmacy ran out of surgical face masks after selling 300 in a day.

"We're frightened because they say it's not exactly flu, it's another kind of virus and we're not vaccinated," said Angeles Rivera, 34, a federal government worker who fetched her son from a public kindergarten that was closing.

The virus is an influenza A virus, carrying the designation H1N1. It contains DNA from avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses, the CDC has said.

The Geneva-based U.N. agency WHO said it was in daily contact with U.S., Canadian and Mexican authorities and had activated its Strategic Health Operations Center (SHOC) -- its command and control center for acute public health events.

The CDC said it will issue daily updates here

Surveillance for and scrutiny of influenza has been stepped up since 2003, when H5N1 bird flu reappeared in Asia. Experts fear that or another strain could spark a pandemic that could kill millions.

In Egypt, a 33-year-old woman died of bird flu, becoming the third such victim there in a week. The H5N1 bird flu, a completely different strain from the swine flu, has infected 421 people in 15 countries and killed 257 since 2003.

An outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, killed 44 people in Canada in 2003.
 
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Clipped from the article: The virus is an influenza A virus, carrying the designation H1N1. It contains DNA from avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses, the CDC has said.

Not a nice cocktail...no, no, not at all. Mother Natures revenge...seems as though historically speaking...mother nature really has the upper hand, and we just keep thinking that we are the superior beings. 'SUPER BUG' is gonna get us one way or the other!!!
 
OMG another deadly plague is upon us? I'm still busy being afraid of monkey pox, avian flu, and the Wes Nile virus. What's a hypochondriac to do? Really now folks, this is just another over hyped bug, trust me, 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999% of the worlds population will survive this epidemic. In the meanwhile, let’s focus on more deadly less curable viruses like AIDs and the common cold.
 
WHO raises flu pandemic threat to 5

The World Health Organisation has raised the swine flu pandemic threat from phase 4 to 5 - its second-highest level.

According to the WHO's pandemic flu response guidelines, a phase 5 alert is called when there is human-to-human spread of virus in at least two countries in one region.

Earlier, US authorities said a Mexican toddler had died in Texas of swine flu in the first confirmed fatality from the disease outside Mexico.

The 23-month-old boy, from the northeastern city of Matamoros on the border with Texas, died in Houston from the H1N1 flu strain. Officials said he had been visiting family in southern Texas when he became ill.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has issued a disaster proclamation with 16 confirmed cases of swine flu in the state.

President Barack Obama said: "We are closely and continuously monitoring the emergent cases of this virus throughout the United States. This is obviously a serious situation. Serious enough to take the utmost precautions."

There have been 159 deaths in Mexico from the disease, according to the World Health Organisation, with 2,498 people currently infected there.

Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said cases range from children through young adults and middle-aged people to the elderly, a different pattern to common seasonal flu which mainly kills the elderly and people with other underlying conditions.

In the US, 91 people are confirmed to have caught the disease, 16 in Canada, 19 in Europe and 3 in New Zealand.

Excluding Mexico, there are more than 300 suspected cases so far worldwide, including 150 in Europe, as well as over 100 cases in New Zealand and Australia.

Reports from Spain said the first person in the country confirmed to have caught swine flu had not been to Mexico but had recently been in contact with someone who had travelled there.


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coughs and sneezes spread diseases..............:rolleyes:
 
PEOPLE - this has been elevated to a phase 5 pandemic.

You may want to consider being prepared in case it hits your location.

Stock up on cold & flu related items and plenty of chicken soup and preffered fluids to flush your system out.

If you have kids ... make preliminary plans on what to do if they get sick or have to stay home.
 
PEOPLE - this has been elevated to a phase 5 pandemic.

You may want to consider being prepared in case it hits your location.

Stock up on cold & flu related items and plenty of chicken soup and preffered fluids to flush your system out.

If you have kids ... make preliminary plans on what to do if they get sick or have to stay home.

How many people have died from this? Hell, how many even have it? And its a pandemic?
 
How many people have died from this? Hell, how many even have it? And its a pandemic?

I don't know - how many should die for it to be called a problem?

However; in NC there are 2 probable cases as of this afternoon (first 2)
and 10 cases in SC according to local news.

Perhaps this could be the grounds to file a law suit against the Federal government.

They are negligent for not upholding Federal immigration laws which has created this situation. :rolleyes:
 
I don't know - how many should die for it to be called a problem?

However; in NC there are 2 probable cases as of this afternoon (first 2)
and 10 cases in SC according to local news.

Perhaps this could be the grounds to file a law suit against the Federal government.

They are negligent for not upholding Federal immigration laws which has created this situation. :rolleyes:

I would say more need to die than die of the normal flu each year. And that number is around 36,000.
 
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All i can say is: DO NOT TAKE ANY VACCINES THAT ARE MEANT TO "STOP THIS FLU"!!

Dont give up your rights NO MATTER WHAT!! (They cant get everyone with this tainted crap)
 
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