Swine flu outbreak international 'public health emergency': WHO

World health officials worry the swine flu outbreak in Mexico could
unleash a global flu epidemic. (Guillermo Gutierrez/Associated
Press)Calling the swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the United States a
"public health emergency of international concern," the World Health
Organization asked countries around the world Saturday to step up their
reporting and surveillance of influenza.

The move signals that the WHO fears the outbreak could spread to other
countries and is calling for a co-ordinated international response to
contain it.

The new flu strain — combining genetic material typical of avian, swine
and human viruses — has killed as many as 68 people among 1,004
suspected cases reported countrywide in Mexico. Tests confirm 20 people
have died of the H1N1 virus, and 48 other deaths were probably due to
the same strain.

The Mexican government has given its health department the power to
isolate patients and inspect homes in the swine flu outbreak.

A similar swine flu virus is blamed for causing illness in eight people
in Texas and California since last Tuesday. But authorities said all of
the U.S. patients are expected to recover.

On Saturday, New York officials said eight students likely have swine
flu, but they're unsure of the strain type. There have been no
confirmed cases in Canada.

Dr. Margaret Chan, director general of the WHO, said the outbreak
involves "an animal strain of the H1N1 virus and it has pandemic
potential," though it's too early to announce a full pandemic alert.

The organization uses six phases to categorize the risks of such an
outbreak and its pandemic alert level is currently at Phase 3, for very
limited human-to-human transmission.

Phase 6 is "pandemic" — for sustained human-to-human transmission of
disease across national borders. Public venues remain closed

On Friday, Mexican authorities closed all schools and other public
buildings in the capital in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

The mayor of Mexico City announced Saturday that all public events
would be cancelled for the next 10 days.

Human-to-human transmission of swine flu is thought to occur in the
same way as seasonal influenza — through coughing and sneezing, or
touching contaminated surfaces.

Officials in Mexico have advised people to avoid customary greetings
such as shaking hands or kissing cheeks.

As an added precaution, soldiers have been distributing surgical masks
to motorists and pedestrians in downtown Mexico City.

"This is a particular kind of swine flu and it's actually no longer
swine flu, although it came from pigs. It's a new human influenza
virus," Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Mount Sinai
Hospital in Toronto, told CBC News.

McGeer said it's important to keep the outbreak in perspective.

"We still don't have really good sense of how many people have been
infected in Mexico. When people talk about 1,000 people ill and 20
deaths, it sounds like a lot, but in truth for influenza, that's a very
small number.

"You need to remember that in Canada alone, which is not that much
bigger than Mexico City actually in population terms, 4,000 people die
of seasonal flu every year."
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/04/25/flu-mexico-090425.html