Influenza A(H1N1) - update 17
6 May 2009 -- As of 06:00 GMT, 6 May 2009, 22 countries have officially reported 1516 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.
Mexico has reported 822 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 29 deaths. The United States has reported 403 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (165), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (4), Germany (9), Guatemala (1), Ireland (1), Israel (4), Italy (5), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (6), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (2), Spain (57), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (27).
It is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention, in line with guidance from national authorities. Individuals are advised to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water on a regular basis and should seek medical attention if they develop any symptoms of influenza-like illness.
WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders.
There is no risk of infection from this virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.
Further information on the situation will be available on the WHO website on a regular basis.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Latest update by World Health Organization (WHO)
Swine flu from YAHOO
Swine flu hits Asia as Mexico shuts down
MEXICO CITY (AFP) – The first case of swine flu was confirmed in Asia as health experts said a vaccine should be ready in a few months and Mexico said the virus was not as aggressive as originally feared.
Confirmation by Hong Kong authorities that a traveler from Mexico tested positive for A(H1N1) flu virus saw an entire hotel quarantined and sent shivers through the territory which was at the center of the 2003SARS crisis.
Denmark and France also joined the list of affected countries while more cases emerged of victims contracting the virus even though they had not traveled to Mexico.
The Mexican government meanwhile raised its confirmed toll to 16 dead and 381 people infected as the country began a five-day shutdown until Tuesday to halt the virus's spread.
Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the new count -- up from 12 dead and 300 infected -- did not represent new cases but rather better testing and analysis of a backlog of "probable" cases in the epicenter of the crisis.
"Fortunately the virus is not so aggressive -- it's not a case of avian flu, which had a mortality rate of nearly 70 percent," Cordova told reporters.
He added that the A(H1N1) flu virus was easily treated with anti-viral medicine "if treatment is given from the first day."
Nevertheless, a five-day shutdown of Mexico decreed by President Felipe Calderon that coincided with a traditional May Day long weekend was being mostly observed.
Thousands of Mexicans ignored the instruction, however, heading to their usual beach getaways, where locals were petrified.
"They shouldn't be coming, they're bringing the virus with them," said one resident in the coastal resort ofAcapulco, Edgar Rubio Hernandez.
Cars and at least one bus coming from the capital were reportedly pelted with stones by locals.
A group of around 200 demonstrators also briefly clashed with police in central Mexico City, ignoring a suspension of traditional May Day rallies by unions. There were no arrests or injuries.
Residents of the capital and elsewhere were starting to chafe at measures imposed early in the week to limit the spread of the H1N1 swine flu.
The closure of bars, restaurants, clubs and cinemas had left the capital looking like a ghost town.
The World Health Organization has warned an official pandemic is now imminent, raising its alert level to five out of six on Wednesday, but a senior official at the UN agency said that a vaccine was in the pipelines.
"We have no doubt that making a successful vaccine is possible in a relatively short period of time," Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research said, adding it may take four to six months.
All the confirmed deaths from the virus have occurred in Mexico except one, a Mexican toddler who died across the border in the United States.
US health officials say they have now confirmed 141 infections in 19 states, while a total of 15 countries have now confirmed cases.
President Barack Obama said he was "optimistic" that US health officials could "effectively" manage the outbreaks of swine flu.
"We don't know for certain that this will end up being more severe" than other strains of seasonal influenza that strike the United States, killing tens of thousands of Americans every year and 250,000 worldwide.
"We are essentially ensuring that in the worst case scenario we can manage this appropriately," Obama said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new strain of swine flu does not appear to be as virulent as a 1918 influenza outbreak that is estimated to have killed up to 50 million people worldwide.
Mexico's Cordova noted the flu virus was also not as dangerous as the SARS epidemic that swept through China and 30 other countries in 2003, killing more than 800 people worldwide.
"This (H1N1 flu) virus is considered less deadly," he said.
But Asia was on alert Friday as Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said that a 25-year-old Mexican man who had tested positive in the Chinese territory had arrived on Thursday from Mexico via Shanghai.
"I will raise the alert level from serious to emergency," Tsang said.
Among the latest cases revealed was that of a nurse in Germany who had treated a patient with the disease, but had not been to Mexico. The nurse subsequently recovered.
Scottish authorities also confirmed the first case of swine flu in Britain involving someone who had not recently traveled to Mexico.
In France Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said the country's first two cases of swine flu had been confirmed.
Poland and Austria also reported new suspected swine flu cases, including that of a 29-year-old Pole hospitalized in Warsaw after returning from the United States, where he spent time in a jail with Mexican inmates.
Most cases outside Mexico have involved only mild symptoms of the illness that can be easily treated with existing flu medicines, and some experts have suggested the virus may have weakened as it was carried outside the country.
MEXICO CITY (AFP) – The first case of swine flu was confirmed in Asia as health experts said a vaccine should be ready in a few months and Mexico said the virus was not as aggressive as originally feared.
Confirmation by Hong Kong authorities that a traveler from Mexico tested positive for A(H1N1) flu virus saw an entire hotel quarantined and sent shivers through the territory which was at the center of the 2003SARS crisis.
Denmark and France also joined the list of affected countries while more cases emerged of victims contracting the virus even though they had not traveled to Mexico.
The Mexican government meanwhile raised its confirmed toll to 16 dead and 381 people infected as the country began a five-day shutdown until Tuesday to halt the virus's spread.
Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the new count -- up from 12 dead and 300 infected -- did not represent new cases but rather better testing and analysis of a backlog of "probable" cases in the epicenter of the crisis.
"Fortunately the virus is not so aggressive -- it's not a case of avian flu, which had a mortality rate of nearly 70 percent," Cordova told reporters.
He added that the A(H1N1) flu virus was easily treated with anti-viral medicine "if treatment is given from the first day."
Nevertheless, a five-day shutdown of Mexico decreed by President Felipe Calderon that coincided with a traditional May Day long weekend was being mostly observed.
Thousands of Mexicans ignored the instruction, however, heading to their usual beach getaways, where locals were petrified.
"They shouldn't be coming, they're bringing the virus with them," said one resident in the coastal resort ofAcapulco, Edgar Rubio Hernandez.
Cars and at least one bus coming from the capital were reportedly pelted with stones by locals.
A group of around 200 demonstrators also briefly clashed with police in central Mexico City, ignoring a suspension of traditional May Day rallies by unions. There were no arrests or injuries.
Residents of the capital and elsewhere were starting to chafe at measures imposed early in the week to limit the spread of the H1N1 swine flu.
The closure of bars, restaurants, clubs and cinemas had left the capital looking like a ghost town.
The World Health Organization has warned an official pandemic is now imminent, raising its alert level to five out of six on Wednesday, but a senior official at the UN agency said that a vaccine was in the pipelines.
"We have no doubt that making a successful vaccine is possible in a relatively short period of time," Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research said, adding it may take four to six months.
All the confirmed deaths from the virus have occurred in Mexico except one, a Mexican toddler who died across the border in the United States.
US health officials say they have now confirmed 141 infections in 19 states, while a total of 15 countries have now confirmed cases.
President Barack Obama said he was "optimistic" that US health officials could "effectively" manage the outbreaks of swine flu.
"We don't know for certain that this will end up being more severe" than other strains of seasonal influenza that strike the United States, killing tens of thousands of Americans every year and 250,000 worldwide.
"We are essentially ensuring that in the worst case scenario we can manage this appropriately," Obama said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new strain of swine flu does not appear to be as virulent as a 1918 influenza outbreak that is estimated to have killed up to 50 million people worldwide.
Mexico's Cordova noted the flu virus was also not as dangerous as the SARS epidemic that swept through China and 30 other countries in 2003, killing more than 800 people worldwide.
"This (H1N1 flu) virus is considered less deadly," he said.
But Asia was on alert Friday as Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said that a 25-year-old Mexican man who had tested positive in the Chinese territory had arrived on Thursday from Mexico via Shanghai.
"I will raise the alert level from serious to emergency," Tsang said.
Among the latest cases revealed was that of a nurse in Germany who had treated a patient with the disease, but had not been to Mexico. The nurse subsequently recovered.
Scottish authorities also confirmed the first case of swine flu in Britain involving someone who had not recently traveled to Mexico.
In France Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said the country's first two cases of swine flu had been confirmed.
Poland and Austria also reported new suspected swine flu cases, including that of a 29-year-old Pole hospitalized in Warsaw after returning from the United States, where he spent time in a jail with Mexican inmates.
Most cases outside Mexico have involved only mild symptoms of the illness that can be easily treated with existing flu medicines, and some experts have suggested the virus may have weakened as it was carried outside the country.
Swine flu from CNN
HONG KONG: Swine flu continued its global march Saturday as South Korea confirmed its first case and Hong Kong and China scrambled to track down anybody who had been in contact with an infected Mexican man.
But amid the spread of the virus, health authorities said the world appeared better prepared to fight an epidemic than a few years ago, and vowed that a vaccine was only months away.
Hong Kong was placed on its highest health alert after the 25-year-old Mexican tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus on Friday, the first confirmed case of swine flu in Asia.
Officials in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan were desperately trying to reach anyone who may have come into contact with the man during his journey from Mexico, via Shanghai.
As some pharmacies in Hong Kong sold out of protective masks, more than 300 guests and staff at a hotel where the Mexican stayed were put in isolation for seven days and authorities were trying to locate fellow air passengers.
China said it was to put all passengers on the flight from Mexico to Shanghai under quarantine and that flights from Mexico to the city were being suspended.
China is to send a plane to Mexico to bring back stranded tourists, according to Xinhua news agency.
Meanwhile, South Korean authorities confirmed the first case there, involving a 51-year-old woman who returned from Mexico Sunday and Denmark and France joined the list of countries reporting their first cases.
The latest confirmed cases bring to 16 the total number of countries in which authorities have announced swine flu within their borders.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) puts the total at 13 but France, Costa Rica and South Korea have also reported confirmed cases.
Mexico’s government late Friday raised its confirmed toll to 16 dead and 381 infected.
But in a sign that authorities may be containing the spread of the disease, the country, which has been at the epicentre of the outbreak, said the new, multi-strain virus appeared not to be as aggressive as had first been feared.
‘Fortunately, the virus is not so aggressive — it’s not a case of avian flu, which had a mortality rate of nearly 70 per cent,’ Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova earlier told reporters.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was taking no chances, however, in this densely populated, sub-tropical territory, saying he would ‘raise the alert level from serious to emergency.’
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement: ‘Test results have confirmed the first probable patient, whose case was reported on Monday, was infected with Influenza A (H1N1).’
The woman, reportedly a nun, is expected to be discharged from the hospital Monday, health officials said.
Elsewhere in Asia, a New Delhi hospital was monitoring two patients suspected of suffering from swine flu after arriving from abroad, a senior Indian government doctor said.
And in Japan, a four-month-old US baby girl was undergoing tests for swine flu, the country’s latest suspected case of the virus, officials said.
The WHO has warned that a pandemic is now imminent, raising its alert level to five out of six, but a senior official at the UN agency said a vaccine was in the pipeline.
‘We have no doubt that making a successful vaccine is possible in a relatively short period of time,’ Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research said, adding it may take four to six months.
With 143 infections confirmed in the United States across 20 states, US officials also said the outbreak did not appear to be anywhere near as dangerous as the 1918 flu epidemic, which killed an estimated 50 million people around the globe.
‘We do not see the markers for virulence that were seen in the 1918 virus,’ Nancy Cox, the chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention influenza division, told reporters.
Most cases outside Mexico have involved only mild symptoms of the illness that can be easily treated with existing flu medicines, and some experts have suggested the virus may have weakened as it was carried outside the country.
Swine flu from BBC
China moves to curb virus spread
China says it will quarantine all those who travelled on a flight from Mexico with a man suffering from swine flu, in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
The 25-year-old man flew to Hong Kong via Shanghai on Thursday, and was admitted to hospital.
Beijing said it would put his fellow passengers under week-long observation. It also suspended flights from Mexico.
The move came as South Korea confirmed a case of the virus, the second country in North-East Asia to do so.
Globally, 16 countries have now reported swine flu cases. Six countries have confirmed person-to-person transmission.
In cases outside Mexico, where the virus emerged, the effects do not appear to be severe.
In Mexico itself, officials have raised the number of confirmed deaths to 16.
Restaurants, public buildings and businesses have been closed for five days to try to bring the virus under control.
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the emergency measures were bringing results, with the numbers "getting better every day".
He said the next 10 days would be critical in determining whether restrictions should remain in place.
Some health experts say the strain of the virus may not be as deadly as first feared.
Dr Anne Schuchat, acting deputy director of America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that although experts were concerned about the possibility of severe cases, the majority so far had been "mild, self-limited illness".
The new virus lacked the traits that made the 1918 flu pandemic so deadly, another CDC official said.
Flights suspended
The virus was confirmed in North-East Asia on Friday, when authorities in Hong Kong received the results of tests from a man recently arrived from Mexico.
The government has ordered a week-long quarantine of the hotel he was staying in, as well as its 300 guests and staff.
Local TV footage showed police wearing masks guarding the hotel exits.
One guest at the hotel, Juliet Keys, said the quarantine decision had caused astonishment.
"We were all a bit stunned really. You just don't believe that someone can tell you ... you can't leave your hotel for seven days."
The guests have been given medical checks and are being treated with antiviral drug Tamiflu.
"Everyone's in masks and being very cautious, " Ms Keys told the BBC's Newshour programme. "We've been told to wash our hands every time we go outside the room because there could be germs on the lift door for example.
The infected man arrived in the territory from the city of Shanghai.
China's health ministry said it had asked local authorities to put all those who travelled on the same flights as him - both from Mexico and within China - into medical quarantine.
On Friday Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu said the virus was very likely to enter mainland China and urged the country to prepare for an outbreak.
In South Korea, officials confirmed that a 51-year-old woman who had recently returned from Mexico had the virus.
They are testing a woman who met her at the airport to see if human-to-human transmission had occurred.
France and Denmark also both confirmed their first cases on Friday.
There is growing concern about the effect the virus could have on Mexico's economy.
Several US air carriers say they will cut flights to Mexico as demand falls amid concerns over the crisis. Tourism has plummeted since the outbreak was declared a week ago.
In Egypt, authorities are expected to begin the slaughter of over 300,000 pigs as a precaution. Experts say the virus cannot be caught from eating pork and there is no scientific rationale for the cull.
Swine flu
My reaction: Swine flu continued its global march Saturday as South Korea confirmed its first case and Hong Kong and China scrambled to track down anybody who had been in contact with an infected Mexican man.
1. The first case of swine flu was confirmed in Asia. The 25-year-old man flew to Hong Kong via Shanghai on Thursday, and was admitted to hospital.
2. Hong Kong government has ordered a week-long quarantine of the hotel he was staying in as well as its 300 guests and staff.
3. Meanwhile, South Korea authorities confirmed a case of virus, the second country in North-East Asia. The 51-year-old women who returned from Mexico.
4. Globally, 16 countries have now reported swine flu cases. Six countries have confirmed person-to-person transmission. The World Health Organization (WHO) puts total at 13 but France, Costa Rica and South Korea have reported confirmed cases.
5. Mexico’s government late Friday raised its confirmed toll to 16 dead and 381 infected as the country began a five-day shutdown until Tuesday to halt the virus’s spread.
6. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new, multi-strain virus appeared not to be as aggressive as had first been fear. Unlike 1918 influenza outbreak that is estimated to have killed up to 50 million people worldwide.
7. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was taking no chances in this densely populated, sub-tropical territory, saying he would “raise the alert level from serious to emergency”.
8. The WHO has warned an official pandemic is now imminent, raising its alert level to five out six, but a senior official at the UN agency said a vaccine was in the pipeline.
9. Most cases outside Mexico have involved only mild symptoms of the illness that can be easily treated with existing flu medicines, and some experts have suggested the virus may have weakened as it was carried outside the country.
Conclusion: Asia’s situation is still under control as low number is reported confirmed cases in the region. However, Asia should not under estimate the situation, if the virus spread wilder it could affect and worsen the economy in this financial meltdown.
Asia had experienced severe influenza (H5N1) outbreak in 1997, originated in Hong Kong, where 18 people contracted the illness and 6 eventually died. A large number of poultry was culled in an attempt to eliminate the virus, but a few years later it has reappeared and is spreading rapidly to other continents and rising the human death toll to hundreds.
The reaction from China had strengthened the confidence that china is in position and prepared for the worst case scenario. Because of the large scale of population and density put China in a great risk.
Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health officials are monitoring the movement and development of the previous unseen H1N1 swine influenza and preparing medications and medical equipments to cope with a possible outbreak of the disease in the kingdom.
1. The first case of swine flu was confirmed in Asia. The 25-year-old man flew to Hong Kong via Shanghai on Thursday, and was admitted to hospital.
2. Hong Kong government has ordered a week-long quarantine of the hotel he was staying in as well as its 300 guests and staff.
3. Meanwhile, South Korea authorities confirmed a case of virus, the second country in North-East Asia. The 51-year-old women who returned from Mexico.
4. Globally, 16 countries have now reported swine flu cases. Six countries have confirmed person-to-person transmission. The World Health Organization (WHO) puts total at 13 but France, Costa Rica and South Korea have reported confirmed cases.
5. Mexico’s government late Friday raised its confirmed toll to 16 dead and 381 infected as the country began a five-day shutdown until Tuesday to halt the virus’s spread.
6. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new, multi-strain virus appeared not to be as aggressive as had first been fear. Unlike 1918 influenza outbreak that is estimated to have killed up to 50 million people worldwide.
7. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was taking no chances in this densely populated, sub-tropical territory, saying he would “raise the alert level from serious to emergency”.
8. The WHO has warned an official pandemic is now imminent, raising its alert level to five out six, but a senior official at the UN agency said a vaccine was in the pipeline.
9. Most cases outside Mexico have involved only mild symptoms of the illness that can be easily treated with existing flu medicines, and some experts have suggested the virus may have weakened as it was carried outside the country.
Conclusion: Asia’s situation is still under control as low number is reported confirmed cases in the region. However, Asia should not under estimate the situation, if the virus spread wilder it could affect and worsen the economy in this financial meltdown.
Asia had experienced severe influenza (H5N1) outbreak in 1997, originated in Hong Kong, where 18 people contracted the illness and 6 eventually died. A large number of poultry was culled in an attempt to eliminate the virus, but a few years later it has reappeared and is spreading rapidly to other continents and rising the human death toll to hundreds.
The reaction from China had strengthened the confidence that china is in position and prepared for the worst case scenario. Because of the large scale of population and density put China in a great risk.
Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health officials are monitoring the movement and development of the previous unseen H1N1 swine influenza and preparing medications and medical equipments to cope with a possible outbreak of the disease in the kingdom.
Monday, April 27, 2009
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