Mexico says H1N1 flu epidemic in 'declining phase'
Updated Sun. May. 3 2009 11:37 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The H1N1 flu outbreak in Mexico has peaked and is in decline, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said Sunday.
According to Cordova, the peak of the epidemic occurred between April 23 and 28.
While countries around the world continue to report new cases, Mexico is experiencing a decline in serious flu cases, with fewer patients being admitted to hospital, Cordova said.
"The evolution of the epidemic is in its declining phase," Cordova told a news conference on Sunday.
"There is evidence that we are going downward," he added.
Cordova confirmed that the death toll from the H1N1 virus in Mexico is still at 19 and the number of confirmed cases increased slightly from 473 to 506, a figure which includes the dead.
The only other death from the virus was a Mexican toddler who died while visiting Texas.
The news from Mexico came hours after a number of new cases were reported across Europe.
Spain now has 40 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu, health officials said Sunday, including five new cases of the virus in the northeastern Catalan region.
Another 99 Spaniards were being tested.
In Germany, health authorities said Sunday that there are now eight confirmed cases in the country. A married couple from Brandenburg state were newly diagnosed this weekend, after arriving home on the same flight as a Hamburg main who came down with the virus following a visit to Mexico.
Meanwhile, Italian officials reported the country's second case of H1N1 flu on Sunday. The patient is a 25-year-old man who recently returned from Mexico.
The Italian Health Ministry said the man is recovering well, but is being kept in isolation in his home.
The new cases bring the total global caseload to close to 800, with the majority occurring in Mexico, the United States and Canada. However, 17 countries worldwide have confirmed cases of the disease, including throughout Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
The ever-changing figures are leaving scientists with more questions about the virus than answers.
"Influenza is unpredictable," Dr. Tim Uyeki, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has worked on SARS and H5N1 bird flu outbreaks, told The Associated Press. "There are so many unanswered questions. This is a brand new virus. There's so much we don't know about the human infections with this virus."
A team of Mexican and international experts are still trying to determine where the virus started and why some cases appear to be more severe than others.
According to Mexican epidemiologist Pablo Kuri, three of the dead were children, ages nine, 12 and 13. Four other dead were over 60.
The other nine are between the ages of 21 and 39, an age group for which a compromised immune system is not usually a problem.
And most of the dead came from different neighbourhoods in Mexico City and there appear to be no links in their medical histories.
Indeed, more questions about the virus arose Saturday when Canadian officials announced the first case of H1N1 human virus being transmitted from a person to pigs on a farm in Alberta.
An infected farm worker who had just returned from Mexico appears to have given the virus to the pigs, none of which have died.
The worker has since recovered.
Fears of the virus spreading to pigs led the Egyptian government to order the slaughter of all of the country's 300,000 pigs, despite the fact the virus has not been reported there.
Clashes broke out Sunday between police and pig owners, who were trying to prevent government workers from taking away their animals.
Police fired shots and tear gas into the air to disperse the crowd, injuring 12 people.
And in Iraq, where there have been no H1N1 cases reported, officials at the Baghdad zoo killed three wild boars.
At a Sunday news conference, officials with the World Health Organization said they are not recommending that farmers cull pigs, as the virus is not a food-borne disease.
Updated Sun. May. 3 2009 11:37 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The H1N1 flu outbreak in Mexico has peaked and is in decline, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said Sunday.
According to Cordova, the peak of the epidemic occurred between April 23 and 28.
While countries around the world continue to report new cases, Mexico is experiencing a decline in serious flu cases, with fewer patients being admitted to hospital, Cordova said.
"The evolution of the epidemic is in its declining phase," Cordova told a news conference on Sunday.
"There is evidence that we are going downward," he added.
Cordova confirmed that the death toll from the H1N1 virus in Mexico is still at 19 and the number of confirmed cases increased slightly from 473 to 506, a figure which includes the dead.
The only other death from the virus was a Mexican toddler who died while visiting Texas.
The news from Mexico came hours after a number of new cases were reported across Europe.
Spain now has 40 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu, health officials said Sunday, including five new cases of the virus in the northeastern Catalan region.
Another 99 Spaniards were being tested.
In Germany, health authorities said Sunday that there are now eight confirmed cases in the country. A married couple from Brandenburg state were newly diagnosed this weekend, after arriving home on the same flight as a Hamburg main who came down with the virus following a visit to Mexico.
Meanwhile, Italian officials reported the country's second case of H1N1 flu on Sunday. The patient is a 25-year-old man who recently returned from Mexico.
The Italian Health Ministry said the man is recovering well, but is being kept in isolation in his home.
The new cases bring the total global caseload to close to 800, with the majority occurring in Mexico, the United States and Canada. However, 17 countries worldwide have confirmed cases of the disease, including throughout Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
The ever-changing figures are leaving scientists with more questions about the virus than answers.
"Influenza is unpredictable," Dr. Tim Uyeki, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has worked on SARS and H5N1 bird flu outbreaks, told The Associated Press. "There are so many unanswered questions. This is a brand new virus. There's so much we don't know about the human infections with this virus."
A team of Mexican and international experts are still trying to determine where the virus started and why some cases appear to be more severe than others.
According to Mexican epidemiologist Pablo Kuri, three of the dead were children, ages nine, 12 and 13. Four other dead were over 60.
The other nine are between the ages of 21 and 39, an age group for which a compromised immune system is not usually a problem.
And most of the dead came from different neighbourhoods in Mexico City and there appear to be no links in their medical histories.
Indeed, more questions about the virus arose Saturday when Canadian officials announced the first case of H1N1 human virus being transmitted from a person to pigs on a farm in Alberta.
An infected farm worker who had just returned from Mexico appears to have given the virus to the pigs, none of which have died.
The worker has since recovered.
Fears of the virus spreading to pigs led the Egyptian government to order the slaughter of all of the country's 300,000 pigs, despite the fact the virus has not been reported there.
Clashes broke out Sunday between police and pig owners, who were trying to prevent government workers from taking away their animals.
Police fired shots and tear gas into the air to disperse the crowd, injuring 12 people.
And in Iraq, where there have been no H1N1 cases reported, officials at the Baghdad zoo killed three wild boars.
At a Sunday news conference, officials with the World Health Organization said they are not recommending that farmers cull pigs, as the virus is not a food-borne disease.
