Situation Update No. 22
On 26.04.2009 at 05:55 GMT+2
 
President Felipe Calderon declared a national emergency Saturday, authorizing federal officials to quarantine the sick, shut down public events and businesses, and take other measures to contain the virus’ spread. “Although this is a grave, serious problem, we’re going to beat it,” Calderon said Saturday. Many in this crowded capital of 20 million are holing up or fleeing town as Mexico braces for what the World Health Organization warns could explode into a deadly global flu epidemic. Schools and universities remain closed, and people are being asked to avoid movie theaters, concerts and other mass gatherings. The new virus — a stew of various swine, bird and human influenza strains — has killed as many as 81 Mexicans and sicked more than 1,000 others in recent weeks as it’s taken root in Mexico City and a handful of other states. Of the deaths, 20 have been confirmed as swine flu.
 
This flu has not yet proved extraordinarily deadly nor exploded into epidemic proportions. Mexican soldiers and health workers patrolled airports and bus stations as they tried to corral people who may be infected with the swine flu, as it became clearer that the government may have been slow to respond to the outbreak in March and early April. WHO on Saturday asked countries around the world to step up reporting and surveillance of the disease and to implement a coordinated response to contain it. The Mexican government issued a decree authorized Calderon to invoke special powers letting the Health Department isolate patients and inspect homes, incoming travelers and baggage.
 
Mexican and international health officials are particularly worried because the flu is being passed from human to human, something rare with swine flus. “It has pandemic potential,” Margaret Chan, director of WHO, told reporters in Geneva. How dangerous this outbreak will prove to be “depends upon what proportion of the population is vulnerable,” said Paul Glezen, epidemiologist with the Influenza Research Center at Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine. That vulnerability hinges on the genetic combination of the virus and whether people have gained some immunity to it through exposure to other flu strains, Glezen said. “From what we’ve seen so far, it doesn’t seem to be extraordinarily virulent,” he said of Mexico’s outbreak.
 
Situation Update No. 21
On 26.04.2009 at 05:54 GMT+2
 
Mexico's president assumed new powers Saturday to isolate people infected with a deadly swine flu strain as authorities struggled to contain an outbreak that world health officials are warning could become a global epidemic. New cases of swine flu were confirmed in Kansas and California and suspected in New York City, but health officials said they didn't know whether it was the strain that has killed as many as 81 people in Mexico and likely sickened at least 1,324. Mexican soldiers and health workers patrolled airports and bus stations as they tried to corral people who may be infected with the swine flu, as it became clearer that the government may have been slow to respond to the outbreak in March and early April. Now, even detaining the ill may not keep the strain - a combination of swine, bird and human influenza to which people may have no natural immunity - from spreading, epidemiologists say. Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic from viruses that mix genetic material from humans and animals. The World Health Organization on Saturday declared the outbreak of the previously unknown virus "a public health emergency of international concern" and asked countries to step up surveillance of the disease and implement a coordinated response to contain it. Two dozen new suspected cases were reported in Mexico City alone, where authorities suspended schools and all public events until at least May 6. More than 500 concerts, sporting events and other gatherings were canceled in the metropolis of 20 million. Hospitals dealt with crowds of people seeking help. A hotline fielded 2,366 calls in its first hours from frightened city residents who suspected they might have the disease. Doctors reported that anti-viral medications and even steroids were working well against the disease, noting no new deaths had been reported in the capital in the last day.
 
Situation Update No. 20
On 26.04.2009 at 05:53 GMT+2
 
The Mexican government indicated that the outbreak was more severe than originally acknowledged, announcing that more than 1,300 people are believed to have been infected. The virus, which the World Health Organization's top official said had "pandemic potential," is now suspected in the deaths of 81 Mexicans, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said. Also Saturday, the Mexican government gave itself extraordinary powers to quarantine and forcibly treat infected people and to search homes and intercept suspected flu sufferers on public transport. The emergency decree follows measures that have included the closing of schools in the worst-affected areas until May 6, and the temporary shutdown of museums, clubs and theaters in Mexico City. Hundreds of concerts, private parties and other events were canceled as federal and local officials urged people to avoid large gatherings.
 
Situation Update No. 19
On 25.04.2009 at 11:27 GMT+2
 
The World Health Organisation said on Saturday it will hold an emergency meeting at 1400 GMT to discuss a deadly swine flu strain outbreak in Mexico and the United States. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called the "virtual meeting" that will link public health authorities and experts in various parts of the world "to seek their advice and guidance," WHO spokesman Fadela Chaib said. Chan will also brief journalists about the outbreak -- which has killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected 8 in the United States -- on a teleconference before the virtual meeting starts, at 1300 GMT. The experts will not necessarily issue firm recommendations on Saturday. Once more details are clear about the virus and its risks, the emergency panel could recommend a change in the WHO's pandemic alert level -- currently at 3 on a scale of 1 to 6 -- or recommend travel advisories to control the flu's spread.
 
Situation Update No. 18
On 25.04.2009 at 11:26 GMT+2
 
Report by WHO:
 
The United States Government has reported seven confirmed human cases of Swine Influenza A/H1N1 in the USA (five in California and two in Texas) and nine suspect cases. All seven confirmed cases had mild Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), with only one requiring brief hospitalization. No deaths have been reported.
 
The Government of Mexico has reported three separate events. In the Federal District of Mexico, surveillance began picking up cases of ILI starting 18 March. The number of cases has risen steadily through April and as of 23 April there are now more than 854 cases of pneumonia from the capital. Of those, 59 have died. In San Luis Potosi, in central Mexico, 24 cases of ILI, with three deaths, have been reported. And from Mexicali, near the border with the United States, four cases of ILI, with no deaths, have been reported.
 
Of the Mexican cases, 18 have been laboratory confirmed in Canada as Swine Influenza A/H1N1, while 12 of those are genetically identical to the Swine Influenza A/H1N1 viruses from California.
 
The majority of these cases have occurred in otherwise healthy young adults. Influenza normally affects the very young and the very old, but these age groups have not been heavily affected in Mexico.
 
Because there are human cases associated with an animal influenza virus, and because of the geographical spread of multiple community outbreaks, plus the somewhat unusual age groups affected, these events are of high concern.

"I work as a resident doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Mexico City and sadly, the situation is far from "under control". As a doctor, I realise that the media does not report the truth. Authorities distributed vaccines among all the medical personnel with no results, because two of my partners who worked in this hospital (interns) were killed by this new virus in less than six days even though they were vaccinated as all of us were. The official number of deaths is 20, nevertheless, the true number of victims are more than 200. I understand that we must avoid to panic, but telling the truth it might be better now to prevent and avoid more deaths. "

PARIS (AFP) - French health authorities have found two suspected cases of swine flu in travellers returning from Mexico and others are expected to follow.