Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Mexico Confirms 16 Deaths Due to Swine Flu - 60 Others Being Investigated

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Mexico Confirms 16 Deaths Due to Swine Flu - 60 Others Being Investigated

    Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...O-2L8Z4q2vDJbw

    Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO


    GENEVA (AFP) ? A rare outbreak of human swine flu has killed at least 60 people in Mexico and spread to the United States where authorities are on alert, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.


    The WHO has identified swine influenza as a potential source of a human flu pandemic. Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the UN health agency, said hundreds of cases of suspected swine flu -- which regularly hits pigs but rarely affects humans -- have been reported in Mexico.

    "To date there have been some 800 suspected cases with flu-like illness, with 57 deaths in the Mexico City area," Chaib added.

    Twenty four suspected cases and three deaths were also recorded in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico.

    Chaib said there are now seven known cases in the southwestern United States in three clusters -- five in California and two in Texas.

    "Meanwhile in Mexico unusual end of season influenza activity began to be noticed at the end of March, peaking in April," the spokeswoman told journalists.

    "The virus is being described in the United States as a new subtype of A/H1N1. Mexico so far hasn't said anything about the virus, what type of virus it is," said Chaib.

    Most of the Mexican cases were found in healthy young adults with no known record of prior illness.

    The WHO said it was in constant contact with health authorities in the United States and in Mexico.

    Human outbreaks of H1N1 swine influenza virus were recorded in the United States in 1976 and 1988, when two deaths were recorded, and in 1986. In 1988 a pregnant woman died after contact with sick pigs according to the WHO.

    In recent years the global focus for a pandemic has shifted to the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has spread from poultry to humans, especially in Asia.

  • #2
    Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

    Mexico: Respiratory Illnesses - Including Mexico City & Oaxaca





    Human Swine Flu Infection - California & Texas


    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

      This is an announcement thread only.

      Please post to one of the above threads information about this event.

      Thanks everyone!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

        Hellblindi at PFI questions the "AFP-interpretation" :

        "GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) voiced concern on Friday at a confirmed outbreak of swine flu in the United States and what it called more than 800 human "influenza-like" cases in Mexico, including about 60 deaths"

        Note the carefully worded contrast between swine flu in the US and "influenza-like" illness in Mexico. The WHO has not said yet the two are the same.
        I'm interested in expert panflu damage estimates
        my current links: http://bit.ly/hFI7H ILI-charts: http://bit.ly/CcRgT

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

          I agree with gsgs: the title of this thread seems misleading.

          It is the title of the AFP report, but it seems AFP has got it wrong.
          ?Addressing chronic disease is an issue of human rights ? that must be our call to arms"
          Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief The Lancet

          ~~~~ Twitter:@GertvanderHoek ~~~ GertvanderHoek@gmail.com ~~~

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

            <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04240903/H1N1_Swine_Mexico_Pandemic.html">Commentary</a>

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

              Ok - lets look at the facts -

              1. Mexico has an outbreak of a virus that presents like influenza and involves the respiratory system. It has also been referred to as atypical pneumonia. There have been deaths and hundreds of suspected cases.

              2. On the border with the United States is an outbreak of a new virus - a swine flu. These cases were found through a monitoring program for the detection of diseases in the border region. So far 7 cases are confirmed and all have recovered. It is transmitted human to human.

              3. The government of Canada releases a memorandum warning about the illness circulating in Mexico. There are 10 suspected cases of this disease currently in Canada and 1 person who was very ill, has recovered.

              4. In a media conference yesterday the CDC said that they could not confirm if the illness in Mexico is the swine flu illness seen in the 7 cases in the United States.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

                See post 227

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

                  change the headline of this thread.

                  It's misleading.
                  It's wrong.

                  It's unnecessarily panicing.
                  Shame on AFP and Brisbane Times.
                  I'm interested in expert panflu damage estimates
                  my current links: http://bit.ly/hFI7H ILI-charts: http://bit.ly/CcRgT

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

                    WHO concerned at new swine flu in US, flu in Mexico

                    Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:51am BST
                    * WHO concerned at US outbreak, 800 flu-like cases in Mexico

                    * Activates command centre for acute health events

                    * Mexican authorities to announce test results on Friday

                    (Adds details, background)

                    GENEVA, April 24 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) voiced concern on Friday at a confirmed outbreak of swine flu in the United States and what it called more than 800 human "influenza-like" cases in Mexico, including about 60 deaths.

                    The United Nations agency said it had activated its Strategic Health Operations Centre (SHOC) -- its command and control centre for acute public health events -- but could not say whether it was considering issuing a travel advisory.

                    U.S. public health officials said on Thursday that seven people had been diagnosed with a new kind of swine flu in California and Texas, while Mexican authorities were due to announce test results later on Friday, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said in Geneva.

                    "We are in daily contact with U.S., Canadian and Mexican authorities," Hartl told Reuters.

                    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the virus was a never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and humans. All 7 American patients had recovered.

                    WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said Mexican authorities had noticed unusual activity at the end of the flu season in March and April.

                    "To date there have been some 800 suspected cases with flu-like illness, with 57 deaths in the Mexico City area.

                    "Similar cases have since been found in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico. The number of suspected cases is 24 suspected cases and 3 deaths," she told a news briefing.

                    Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordoba said that it was cancelling classes for millions of children in the heart of the country on Friday after influenza killed around 20 people in recent weeks. Mexico's flu season had extended for longer this year. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

                    "In the beginning of change, the patriot is a scarce man (or woman https://flutrackers.com/forum/core/i...ilies/wink.png), and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for it then costs nothing to be a patriot."- Mark TwainReason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it. -Thomas Paine

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

                      Originally posted by niman View Post
                      <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04240903/H1N1_Swine_Mexico_Pandemic.html">Commentary</a>
                      Commentary

                      Sixty Swine Flu Fatalities In Mexico Confirm Pandemic Start

                      Recombinomics Commentary 13:30
                      April 24, 2009

                      A rare outbreak of human swine flu has killed at least 60 people in Mexico and spread to the United States where authorities are on alert, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.

                      "To date there have been some 800 suspected cases with flu-like illness, with 57 deaths in the Mexico City area," Chaib added.

                      Twenty four suspected cases and three deaths were also recorded in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico.

                      The above comment confirm that the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04240902/H1N1_Swine_CA_TX_Clusters.html">in southwestern United States</a> in southwestern United States (see updated map) is the leading edge of a H1N1 pandemic that appears to be centered in Mexico.

                      These deaths should increase the pandemic phase to 6.

                      Release of sequences from fatal cases in Mexico would be useful.

                      .
                      "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

                        Deadly Mexican Influenza Making Its Way North? Seven in U.S. Ill from Mutated Flu Strain

                        Human Contact Spreading Mutated Strain of Swine Flu; CDC Expects Number of Cases to Rise; Get Complete Coverage at Healthcare Industry Today

                        WASHINGTON, April 24 - /EIN NEWS/ An unusual strain of swine flu has infected seven people Texas and Southern California, and the CDC believes that, unlike many animal-borne illnesses, this virus can spread from person to person.

                        According to the CDC's Nancy Cox, the virus appears to be a mixture of the swine, avian and human strains of influenza. This mutant virus cropping up near the Mexican border comes on the heels of a mystery respiratory illness in Mexico that has baffled the health community. More than 20 people have died from influenza in Mexico, forcing Mexico City to cancel school for millions of children.

                        Is the world watching the start of a flu pandemic? And its starting point: North America? If not, the mutation of such viruses and spread within the human population is cause enough for alarm.

                        .............
                        Deadly Mexican Influenza Making Its Way North? Seven in U.S. Ill from Mutated Flu Strain Human Contact Spreading Mutated Strain of Swine Flu; CDC Expects Number
                        "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

                          US 'very concerned' about swine flu outbreak
                          33 minutes ago

                          WASHINGTON (AFP) ? US medical authorities expressed strong concern Friday about an unprecedented multi-strain swine flu outbreak that has killed at least 60 people in Mexico and infected seven people in the United States.

                          "It's very obvious that we are very concerned. We've stood up emergency operation centers," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesman Dave Daigle told AFP.

                          One major source of concern was that the virus included strains from different types of flu.

                          "This is the first time that we've seen an avian strain, two swine strains and a human strain," said Daigle, adding that the virus had influenza strains from European and Asian swine, but not from North American swine.

                          In 11 of 12 reported human cases of swine influenza (H1N1) virus infection in the United States from December 2005 to February 2009, the CDC has documented direct or indirect contact with swine.

                          But the seven known cases of the previously undetected strain in the United States -- five from California and two from Texas -- did not have contact with pigs. The seven people infected have all recovered from the flu.

                          "We have determined that this virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human," the CDC said on its website. "However, at this time, we have not determined how easily the virus spreads between people."

                          Local and state health officials were interviewing not just the people who were infected but the people with whom they had contact, Daigle noted.

                          Officials were looking for the source of the infection, Daigle said, adding that US health officials were due to receive samples from Mexico that would be tested at a lab at the centers based in Atlanta, Georgia.

                          The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified swine influenza as a potential source of a human flu pandemic. Pandemics usually occur every 20 years.

                          "Our experts and others are saying are not saying it's not a matter of whether but when. And we are past due," said Daigle.

                          Swine flu is caused by type A influenza and does not normally infect humans but cases have been reported among people, especially those exposed to pigs, the CDC said. Most outbreaks take place during the late fall and winter months.

                          Swine flu symptoms include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people who have contracted the virus have also reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the CDC.

                          Human outbreaks of H1N1 swine influenza virus were recorded in the United States in 1976 and 1988, when two deaths were reported, and in 1986. In 1988, a pregnant woman died after contact with sick pigs, the WHO said.

                          In recent years, the global focus for a pandemic has shifted to the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has spread from poultry to humans, especially in Asia.

                          "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

                            Deadly outbreak of New Swine Flu in Southwest U.S. and Mexico

                            (ChattahBox) ? The World Health Organisation (WHO) bas confirmed an outbreak of swine flu in the United States and hundreds of human ?influenza-like? cases in Mexico, including about 60 deaths.

                            It is still unclear if the Mexican flu virus was the same one implicated in the confirmed swine flu outbreaks in the southwestern United States.

                            Swine influenza rarely infect humans. There have been about a dozen cases since 2005, but almost all were in farm workers or others in contact with pigs.
                            World health authorities said on Friday that seven people had been diagnosed with a new kind of swine flu in California and Texas, while Mexican authorities were due to announce test results later today, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said in Geneva.

                            The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the virus ?A (H1N1) flu strain? was a never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and humans. All 7 American patients had recovered.

                            None had any contact with pigs, and in two sets of cases, involving a father and daughter and two 16-year-old schoolmates, those infected had contact with each other. That convinced the authorities that the virus was being transmitted from person to person.

                            Like some human strains, it is resistant to two older flu drugs, amantadine and rimantadine. It is not resistant to Tamiflu or Relenza. However, Tamiflu resistance is common in the H1N1 human flu strain circulating this year, so the swine strain could become resistant to Tamiflu if the viruses mixed in humans or, possibly, in pigs.
                            "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Swine flu kills 60 in Mexico, moves to US: WHO

                              Race on to tackle killer flu in US, Mexico

                              World health authorities have rushed to tackle flu outbreaks in the United States and Mexico that have killed at least 60 people and have pandemic potential.

                              Hundreds of people in Mexico have been infected and 60 have died from suspected swine flu, while seven human cases have been confirmed in the United States, a World Health Organisation spokeswoman said.

                              The WHO, which has identified swine influenza as a potential source of a human flu pandemic, activated its global epidemic operations centre while Mexican authorities closed schools in Mexico City and the centre of the country.

                              Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova urged people to avoid large crowds, shaking hands, kissing people as a greeting, or using the subway.

                              "This afternoon the epidemic was confirmed by Canadian and US labs to be a new influenza virus," mr Cordova said in a televised statement late Thursday.

                              But it was unclear if the Mexican flu virus was the same one implicated in the confirmed swine flu outbreaks in the south-western United States.

                              The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the "novel" A/H1N1 influenza identified in at least two of the recent cases by US counterparts might have a risk of developing into a pandemic-type virus.

                              "The infection of humans with a novel influenza A virus infection of animal origins as has happened here is of concern because of the risk, albeit small, that this could represent the appearance of viruses with pandemic potential," the ECDC said on its website.

                              Referring to "swine flu cases that have broken out in the United States in Mexico," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said there are "now a total of seven known cases in the United States."

                              They included five in California and two in Texas, in three clusters, Ms Chaib told journalists.

                              "Meanwhile in Mexico unusual end of season influenza activity began to be noticed at the end of March, peaking in April.

                              "To date there have been some 800 suspected cases with flu-like illness, with 57 deaths in the Mexico City area," the WHO spokeswoman said.

                              Twenty-four suspected cases and three deaths were also recorded in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico, she said.

                              Mexico's health minister reported a total of 20 deaths late Thursday (local time).

                              "The virus is being described in the United States as a new subtype of A/H1N1. Mexico so far hasn't said anything about the virus, what type of virus it is," Ms Chaib said.

                              Most of the Mexican cases were found in healthy young adults with no known record of prior illness.

                              The WHO said it was in constant contact with health authorities in the United States and in Mexico.

                              Human outbreaks of H1N1 swine influenza virus were recorded in the United States in 1976 and 1988, when two deaths were recorded, and in 1986. In 1988 a pregnant woman died after contact with sick pigs, according to the WHO.

                              In recent years the global focus for a pandemic has shifted to the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has spread from poultry to humans and killed 257 of the 421 people infected by the virus since 2003.

                              WHO experts have pointed out that pigs have been implicated in the emergence of new influenza viruses responsible for two of the previous century's influenza pandemics.

                              If a pig is simultaneously infected with a human and an avian influenza virus, it can serve as a "mixing vessel" for the two viruses that could combine to create a new more virulent strain.

                              "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X