After the US and Mexico, the swine flu epidemic crossed new borders with the first cases confirmed in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, as the number of deaths in Mexico surpassed 150.
Swine flu has spread to seven countries and appears to be jumping borders via airplane flights. In New Zealand, a group of students and teachers were confirmed with the virus after recent trip to Mexico, where the virus is suspected to have infected nearly 2,000 people and caused more than 150 deaths. Another case was confirmed in Israel.
Fifty cases have been confirmed in the United States. Six cases have been confirmed in Canada, two in Spain and two in Scotland.
Swine flu cases were also being probed in Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Ireland, in addition to Spain and Britain. The US, where cases with mild symptoms have been confirmed in California, New York, Texas and Kansas, has declared a medical emergency to deal with the situation.
WHO Warning
The World Health Organization (WHO), which declared the outbreak to be ‘public health emergency of international concern’, stated that it was re-convening the meeting of its emergency committee tomorrow to decide whether to declare it a pandemic.
Six cases of human swine flu linked to the Mexican outbreak had been confirmed in Canada. While two cases came to light in British Columbia province, four were reported in Nova Scotia province. However, the swine flu symptoms in all the six cases were “relatively mild and the patients are recovering.
Urging people to take precautions, the WHO urged that they should wash their hands thoroughly, never cough or sneeze into their hands, always use a hand sanitizer and stay at home if their show symptoms of the flu.
Countries have stepped up surveillance at airports and ports, using thermal cameras and sensors to identify people with fever.
Handling the Menace
Health authorities across Asia tried to reassure nationals, saying they had sufficient stockpiles of anti-flu drugs to handle an outbreak. The European Commission has called an urgent meeting of health ministers.
Fearing another setback for the fragile world economy, markets reacted nervously to the outbreak, which has prompted the WHO to activate its 24-hour “war room” command centre.
Phase 4 Alert
The WHO has raised its pandemic alert for a new strain of swine flu by one level, two steps short of declaring a full pandemic. It stated that the phase 4 alert means there is sustained human-to-human transmission in at least one country. It also warned that at this time containment is not a feasible option'' as the virus has already spread to several other countries.
WHO made the decision to raise the alert level from phase 3 after emergency consultations with flu experts from around the world on April 27, 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment