Australia issues warning after swine flu outbreak
Posted 9 minutes ago
Australian health authorities have urged travellers who have recently returned from Mexico with flu-like symptoms to visit a doctor.
The Department of Health and Ageing says it is aware of the recent outbreak of illness in Mexico which has killed at least 60 people and infected hundreds more.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) today declared the swine flu outbreak an international public health emergency.
The deadly strain has been found in three Mexican cities and in the US border states of California and Texas, but new reports suggest it may also have reached as far as Kansas and New York.
Australian authorities are liaising with the WHO, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other relevant public health experts, and say they will maintain a watching brief on the virus.
The department warned that anyone who has returned from Mexico with flu-like symptoms since March this year should seek advice from a general practitioner.
It says unlike bird flu, strains of swine influenza do not usually cause illness in humans, and in developed countries like Australia, relatively few people are regularly exposed to pigs.
Tests on a small number of cases in the United States showed the presence of swine flu, but these patients have recovered.
The department says Australia has good surveillance and control systems in place to discover and respond to outbreaks of disease and there is no evidence of a pandemic emerging.
It says staff will consider giving public health advice to GPs and hospitals if required.
Posted 9 minutes ago
Australian health authorities have urged travellers who have recently returned from Mexico with flu-like symptoms to visit a doctor.
The Department of Health and Ageing says it is aware of the recent outbreak of illness in Mexico which has killed at least 60 people and infected hundreds more.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) today declared the swine flu outbreak an international public health emergency.
The deadly strain has been found in three Mexican cities and in the US border states of California and Texas, but new reports suggest it may also have reached as far as Kansas and New York.
Australian authorities are liaising with the WHO, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other relevant public health experts, and say they will maintain a watching brief on the virus.
The department warned that anyone who has returned from Mexico with flu-like symptoms since March this year should seek advice from a general practitioner.
It says unlike bird flu, strains of swine influenza do not usually cause illness in humans, and in developed countries like Australia, relatively few people are regularly exposed to pigs.
Tests on a small number of cases in the United States showed the presence of swine flu, but these patients have recovered.
The department says Australia has good surveillance and control systems in place to discover and respond to outbreaks of disease and there is no evidence of a pandemic emerging.
It says staff will consider giving public health advice to GPs and hospitals if required.