Swine Flu

2009-04-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

US says not testing travelers from Mexico for flu

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - The United States is not testing airplane travelers from Mexico for the swine flu virus that has heightened fears of a possible pandemic, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Sunday.

http://lite.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26491120.htm

2009-04-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

2009-04-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

For the latest information on swine flu and swine flu prevention and supplies stay tuned!

2009-04-26T15:27:00.001-07:00

Obama has no flu symptoms after Mexico visit

The president met with a museum director who died a week later of pneumonia. But officials say that man did not have swine flu. Restraint is advised for those considering seeking a flu test.

Rest of article

Newest Articles

2009-04-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/med_swine_flu

World races to contain the swine flu outbreak

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/swine_flu_world

Swine flu prompting pork bans

2009-04-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

Swine flu epidemic empties Mexican streets

World on alert

How to Prevent Swine Flu by John McCormick

2009-04-25T20:43:00.001-07:00

New cases of the A/H1N1 Swine Flu have been seen in 8 students in a New York school.

By now everyone has seen TV footage of Mexican citizens wearing simple over the ear tie masks in an attempt to protect against the swine flu.

But the only real way to prevent the spread of any form of flu is really to avoid crowds.

The good news is that even these minimal paper masks will provide some help in preventing those who HAVE the flu from spreading it through the virus carrying droplets in coughs and sneezes.

Unfortunately, those masks are ineffective when it comes to protecting those uninfected individuals from inhaling the virus.

Although no simple mask can filter out the tiny virus particles of any disease, these are usually relatively delicate organisms and to remain viable and able to infect people they must be carried in water droplets.

The kinds of mask needed to help protect those trying to avoid infection are those designated as class N95 particulate masks. These are commonly recommended for use used in hospitals but are available for sale to the general public.

The CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control) "Interim Domestic Guidance on the Use of Respirators to Prevent Transmission of SARS" would also apply to other airborne virus infections (if the Swine Flu proves to be spread by air.

The CDC also has a current list of suppliers of disposable N95 respirators.

These masks are tested and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are also used by NCSCAR teams for protection from dangerous dust.

In addition to decades as a science reporter, John A. McCormick has worked for years as a local emergency management coordinator (now retired) and has advised facilities and municipalities on preparations for a flu pandemic.

He also maintains a medical information Web site certified by HON, Healthcare on the Net (an NGO affiliate of the WHO in Geneva) as providing unbiased and accurate medical information.

HON verification status for New Medicine Online https://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html?HONConduct889525.

HON was developed to provide assurance of the quality of online medical information given by independent sources.

"The Health On the Net Foundation (HON) promotes and guides the deployment of useful and reliable online health information, and its appropriate and efficient use. Created in 1995, HON is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, accredited to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. For twelve years, HON has focused on the essential question of the provision of health information to citizens, information that respects ethical standards. To cope with the unprecedented volume of healthcare information available on the Net, the HONcode of conduct offers a multi-stakeholder consensus on standards to protect citizens from misleading health information."

2009-04-25T20:40:00.001-07:00

2 swine flu cases confirmed in U.S. state of Kansas

www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-26 06:00:35

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Saturday confirmed two cases of swine flu in the state.

Photo taken on April 25, 2009 shows an announcement published on the website of Saint Francis Preparatory School in New York, telling that about 75 students of the school went to the Medical Office with a variety of symptoms, headache, upset stomach, dizziness. Tests were ordered after these students from the St. Francis preparatory school in Queens showed flu-like symptoms on April 23, New York Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said. Health authorities in the central US state of Kansas confirmed two cases of swine flu on April 25, bringing the total number of cases in the United States to at least ten. (Xinhua/Liu Xin)
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A spokeswoman said the department is planning to release details on the two cases at a news conference later Saturday.

Tests also confirmed that eight New York city schoolchildren had a type A influenza virus, likely swine flu. But officials are not sure of the strain type. Samples have been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for further testing.

A new H1N1 swine flu strain -- a mixture of swine, human and avian flu viruses -- is believed to have killed as many as 68 people and sickened more than 1,000 across Mexico. A total of 24 new suspected cases were reported on Saturday in Mexico City alone, where schools were closed and all public events suspended until further notice -- including more than 500 concerts and other gatherings in the metropolis of 20 million.

The outbreak also reached Texas and California in the United States, leaving eight infected. None of the American victims has had any contact with pigs and only one of them has traveled to Mexico recently.

The new strain is still poorly understood and the situation is evolving quickly, Director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan said on Saturday in Geneva, adding that it has "pandemic potential."

The WHO has declared the outbreak in Mexico and the United States a "public health emergency of international concern."

Although it commonly causes respiratory problems in pigs, swine flu is rare in humans. Only 12 other cases of human infection have been detected since 2005, according to the CDC. Of the 12 cases, 11 of the patients had had contact with pigs.

Symptoms include fever, lethargy, cough and lack of appetite. Documented cases of swine flu being transmitted from one human to another are rare, according to the CDC.

2009-04-25T20:36:00.002-07:00

Japan tightens measures against swine flu threat after outbreak in Mexico

www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-26 10:20:44

by Qi Wei

TOKYO, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Japan has tightened preventive measures against the threat of swine flu as the deadly outbreaks in Mexico claimed more than 60 human lives.

At a meeting of ministry and agency section chiefs Saturday, the government decided to strengthen measures to prevent the virulent strain of swine flu from spreading to Japan and issued an advisory for travelers to Mexico and the United States, where eight people were infected with the disease, that urges precautions such as wearing masks and washing hands, and called on all people returning from either country to report unusual symptoms.

The health, labor and welfare ministry held an emergency press conference Saturday to warn the public of the flu threat and announced preparations to tackle the potential influenza pandemic.

It is not yet clear whether the World Health Organization (WHO) will certify the swine flu as a new strain of influenza, said Yoshio Nanba, chief of the ministry's office for pandemic influenza. But the ministry has begun preparations together with ministries and agencies concerned to take joint actions if the WHO's confirmation comes.

Nanba called on the public to respond calmly and act on correct information.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry established a liaison office and begun around-the-clock gathering of information on the outbreak and urged those who are bound for the swine flu-stricken country to abort their trips.

At Kansai and Narita international airports, the quarantine station used thermographic imaging to check the temperatures of passengers coming from Mexico to detect fevers that could be caused by swine flue infections.

The Agriculture, forestry and fisheries ministry also instructed animal quarantine offices across Japan to check live pigs brought into Japan for possible infection.

In Mexico City, where a total of 24 new suspected cases were reported on Saturday, the Japanese Embassy said there were no reports of deaths from the flu or infections among the more than 5,000 Japanese living in Mexico. The embassy said it is too early to recommend evacuation from the country.

The swine flu is believed to have killed as many as 68 people and sickened more than 1,000 across Mexico.

2009-04-25T20:36:00.001-07:00

Mexico fights swine flu with 'pandemic potential'

4/25/2009, 10:58 p.m. EDT

MARK STEVENSON

The Associated Press

(AP) — MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Mexican soldiers and health workers patrolled airports and bus stations, looking for people who may be infected with a deadly new swine flu strain. Tourist markets and restaurants were nearly empty. And throngs of Mexicans ? some with just a fever ? rushed to hospitals.

With each passing day and every new death, this metropolis of 20 million people grows increasingly fearful of an outbreak that has killed as many as 81 people and prompted world health officials to warn Saturday that it could become a global epidemic.

"The people are scared," said a tired Dr. Roberto Ortiz, 59, as he leaned against an ambulance and sipped coffee oustide Hospital Obregon. "A person gets some flu symptoms or a child gets a fever and they think it is this swine flu and rush to the hospital," he said.

What is the Swine Flu?

2009-04-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza that regularly cause outbreaks of influenza among pigs. Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans, however, human infections with swine flu do occur, and cases of human-to-human spread of swine flu viruses has been documented.

In March and April 2009, more than 1,000 cases of swine flu in humans were detected in Mexico, the southwestern United States, New York City metropolitan area, and two in Kansas, causing more than 80 deaths in Mexico.^[18] Following a series of reports of isolated cases of swine flu,^[19]^[20] the first announcement of the outbreak in Mexico was documented on April 23. Some of the cases have been confirmed by the World Health Organization to be due to a new genetic strain of H1N1.^[21]^[22] The new strain has been confirmed in 16 of the deaths and 44 others are being tested as of 24 April 2009.^[23] The Mexican fatalities are mainly young adults, a hallmark of pandemic flu.^[24]

The current vaccine against the seasonal influenza strain H1N1 is thought unlikely to provide protection.^[25] Anne Schuchat, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said that the United States cases were found to be made up of genetic elements from four different flu viruses—North American swine influenza, North American avian influenza, human influenza A virus subtype H1N1, and swine influenza virus typically found in Asia and Europe. For two cases a complete genome sequence had been obtained. She said that the virus was resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, but susceptible to oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza).^[26]^[27]^[28]

The new strain appears to be a recombinant between two older strains. Preliminary genetic characterization found that the hemagglutinin (HA) gene was similar to that of swine flu viruses present in U.S. pigs since 1999, but the neuraminidase (NA) and matrix protein (M) genes resembled versions present in European swine flu isolates. Viruses with this genetic makeup had not previously been found to be circulating in humans or pigs, but there is no formal national surveillance system to determine what viruses are circulating in pigs in the U.S.^[29]