Nova Scotia 6 more cases may 1

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6 more cases of swine flu confirmed in N.S.
Last Updated: Friday, May 1, 2009 | 4:38 PM AT
CBC News

Six new cases of swine flu were reported in Nova Scotia on Friday, bringing the province's total to 14.

"These new numbers are what we expected," Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief public health officer, said in a news release.

Strang said he "fully expects" there will be more people who test positive in the province, and possibly even some deaths. This is the case with all influenza outbreaks, he said.

The four new cases, as with all the cases in the province to date, are linked to an outbreak at a private school in Windsor. Cases began to emerge at King's Edgehill School after students returned from a trip to Mexico in April.

All 14 cases have been mild so far, and Strang urged Nova Scotians not to panic. He said people should wash their hands regularly, cough and sneeze in their sleeves, and stay away from public areas if they are sick.

He is not recommending that people wear surgical masks or seek out antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu. In fact, he said his department is asking doctors not to prescribe antivirals to people to prevent infection, as overuse could increase the risk of the virus developing drug resistance.

"It is important to remember that daily activities should continue as normal," Strang said. "It is safe to go to school, work and socialize, as long as you don't have any symptoms."
With files from The Canadian Press

 

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Re: Nova Scotia 6 more cases may 1

Nova Scotia announces 17 new cases of swine flu

By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Sat. May 2 - 4:50 PM

Public health officials say Nova Scotia has 17 new cases of swine flu, as jurisdictions across Canada are starting to report the widening spread of the illness.

Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of Nova Scotia, said at a news conference Saturday that of the new cases in the province 11 are students who were exposed to the virus at the private King's Edgehill school in Windsor.

» ALSO SEE: Swine Flu Outbreak

The other six were tested in doctors' offices in the Halifax area, suggesting the virus has jumped from being isolated in a small town to Atlantic Canada's most densely populated city.

There are now 31 cases in Nova Scotia, making it the province with the largest number of confirmed cases in the country.

Meanwhile, seven new cases have been reported in Alberta, doubling that province's count to 15 and the latest national total to 80 cases.

Two women, one man and a girl became Edmonton's first to come down with the disease. One woman and a boy were also diagnosed with swine flu in northern Alberta.

Another woman in Calgary has also come down with the disease.

None of the cases have required hospitalization, said Alberta Health.

Strang says he is uncertain whether any of those infected in Halifax had contact with students from the private school, or if they contracted the illness from other sources.

He says further tests are needed, and he'll know more in a few days.

``This is not a surprise. We fully expected to see more cases, as I've been saying all week. We also expected it would spread beyond King's Edgehill school,'' said Strang, after announcing the new numbers.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1119652.html

He added there have been no reports that any of the people with the flu have been hospitalized.

Though he emphasized that to date most cases are mild, he also urged Canadians to be cautious.

``I ask people to be extra vigilant and to take precautions around general hygiene. That means washing hands thoroughly and often, coughing and sneezing into your sleeve and disinfecting tables and worktops,'' he said.

Meanwhile, new cases have also been confirmed in British Columbia and Quebec.

Health officials in Quebec confirmed the province's second case of the flu strain known as H1N1.

Provincial health authorities are expected to release more details at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. Quebec's first case was confirmed in Montreal earlier this week.

A notice posted Friday on the website of B.C.'s Centre for Disease Control says the province's confirmed caseload now stands at 19.

All the B.C. cases have been mild and the patients have either recovered or are recovering.

The new Canadian cases came as the World Health Organization announced it will release 2.4 million anti-viral doses to 72 countries.

The federal government, meanwhile, has expanded its swine-flu prevention campaign to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, with a new ``citizen-readiness campaign.''

 

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Official statement

Official statement

As of today, May 2, 17 new lab-confirmed cases of H1N1 (Human Swine Influenza) virus have been reported. To date, a total of 31 cases have been confirmed in Nova Scotia. Eleven of these new cases are related to the King's-Edgehill school community. Six of them are outside.

"We have been expecting this and are prepared," said Dr. Robert Strang, chief public health officer for Nova Scotia. "Right now we are working to gather more information about the confirmed cases outside of King's-EdgeHill. At this point, we can say that the cases were tested in doctors' offices and emergency rooms in the metro area."

Dr. Strang also said he'd have more information early next week after public health staff have had a chance to do more follow up. There have been no reports of any hospitalizations of these new cases.

http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20090502005