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Mexico shuts down to halt spread
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Mexico shuts down to halt spread of swine flu
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Mexico begins five-day shutdown to fight swine flu
By: AFP
Published: 1/05/2009 at 12:56 PM
Mexico said the swine flu epidemic was not as aggressive as originally feared as it began a five-day shutdown Friday to halt its spread and more countries confirmed cases on their soil.
As nations stepped up safety measures following a World Health Organization (WHO) warning a global pandemic may be imminent, Mexico's government raised its confirmed toll to 15 dead and 328 people infected.
But Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the new count -- up from 12 dead and 300 infected -- did not represent new cases coming in but rather testing and analysis of a backlog of "probable" cases in the epicentre 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 a news conference.
He said the A(H1N1) flu virus, while far more contagious than avian flu, was easily treated with anti-viral medicine "if treatment is given from the first day."
However the virus continued to spread far beyond the borders of Mexico with the first confirmed cases of infection recorded in Hong Kong and Denmark.
In Washington, the Inter-American Development Bank said it would approve three billion dollars in loans for Mexico, the epicentre of the latest outbreak, which was already struggling from the global financial crisis.
Mexican authorities have cancelled the traditional gatherings of workers to celebrate May Day, as the country went into a five-day holiday they hoped would minimise public contact and slow the viral spread down even more.
Restaurants, bars, tourist sites and other public venues remained closed in the capital and elsewhere.
"Stay at home with your family," President Felipe Calderon said in an address to the nation, which is officially on holiday until Tuesday.
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 said the number of infections there had hit 118, while a number of other nations -- including Britain, New Zealand and Germany -- reported new H1N1 cases.
Hong Kong reported its first confirmed case of swine flu, when the territory's Chief Executive Donald Tsang said a Mexican man who had tested positive. He had arrived in the territory on Thursday from Mexico via Shanghai.
Denmark also confirmed its first case although there were no immediate details available.
Among the latest cases revealed in Germany was that of a nurse who had treated a patient with the disease, but had not been to Mexico. The nurse subsequently recovered, authorities said.
Poland and Austria also reported new suspected swine flu cases, including that of a 29-year-old Pole who was hospitalised in Warsaw after returning from the United States where he spent time in a jail with Mexican inmates.
Spain's total of 13 infected people also includes one person who had not recently visited Mexico, but contracted the disease from his girlfriend, who had visited the country.
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 that the virus may have weakened as it was carried outside the country.
The WHO said it would not as yet invoke the highest health threat level -- what it calls phase six, meaning a worldwide pandemic is under way -- but kept it at phase five, indicating a pandemic is imminent.
The WHO's acting assistant director Keiji Fukuda said the virus was behaving like a typical influenza virus, meaning there could be an increase in cases in the southern hemisphere, which is about to enter winter.
"This is something we have to be on the watch out very carefully for," Fukuda said.
Authorities across the world have tightened travel restrictions and taken other measures to keep the virus from spreading.
Singapore invoked public health orders not used since the 2003 SARS crisis, ordering anyone arriving from Mexico to be quarantined for one week, while Israel began airport health inspections for those coming from Mexico.
Argentina and Cuba have both suspended flights to Mexico, while Peru has banned flights originating there.
However the United Nations reversed advice it gave to staff saying they should postpone travel to flu-hit countries.
Although it was initially dubbed swine flu, the WHO is now officially referring to it as Influenza A(H1N1), in part because the virus is not spread by contact with pigs but is transmitted from person to person.
The UN health body meanwhile said that it was examining its response to the outbreak in Mexico following accusations that it reacted too slowly, but defended its response.
"There are cases of influenza all the time, but once we knew that this illness was cause by a new influenza virus... we moved into operation within a matter of hours," WHO spokesman Thomas Abrahams told journalists.
source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/142041/mexico-begins-five-day-shutdown-to-fight-swine-flu
Mexico begins 5-day shutdown to curb virus
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO - The Associated Press
Mexico begins 5-day shutdown to curb virus
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO - The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico raised its confirmed swine flu death toll from 15 to 16 on Friday, adding that the total number of confirmed cases of the virus had risen to 397.
National Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova announced the new numbers late Friday but insisted measures taken by the government to prevent large public gatherings are having an impact in controlling the outbreak.
"The mortality rate isn't as great as could be expected," Cordova said. He said the latest fatality was a woman but released no other details on the case.
National Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova announced the new numbers late Friday but insisted measures taken by the government to prevent large public gatherings are having an impact in controlling the outbreak.
"The mortality rate isn't as great as could be expected," Cordova said. He said the latest fatality was a woman but released no other details on the case.
Mexico City's streets, normally filled on Labor Day with throngs of celebrating workers, were eerily quiet as Mexicans began a forced five-day holiday to curb the spread of swine flu. It included near-total closures of government and private activity. Only essential services such as hospitals and supermarkets were open.
May Day is normally a raucous day in Mexico City as the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard fills with hundreds of thousands of boisterous marchers headed to the central Zocalo square. On Friday, a few tourists wandered down its broad sidewalks, lined with shuttered shops, banks and office towers.
"I'm going crazy in my house with this confinement," said retiree Rocio Lara. "There is nowhere to go, nowhere to spend your time."
Those seeking a quick escape from the capital of 20 million were warned not to come to Acapulco - and in a few cases residents threw stones at cars with Mexico City license plates. Acapulco officials made sure would-be visitors knew that bars, restaurants and tour boats are closed.
"Someone who has flu symptoms shouldn't think they can come to Acapulco for the weather and get better - that some fresh air and tequila and discos are going to make them forget about everything," Mayor Manuel Anorve said.
No new deaths from swine flu were reported Thursday night in the capital - the first time that's happened since an emergency was declared a week ago, Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said.
"This isn't to say we are lowering our guard or we think we no longer have problems," Ebrard said. "But we're moving in the right direction."
Cordova echoed his optimism, saying Mexicans with flu symptoms are seeking medical attention quickly, and those suspected of swine flu are getting treated even before anything is confirmed.
"If the treatment is given the first day, the patient is practically not contagious," Cordova said.
About 80 people protested outside Los Pinos, the presidential residence, to demand the government hand out antiviral drugs to children and the elderly. Currently, only doctors can prescribe flu-treating drugs.
Inmates rioted at a Mexico City prison after officials banned family visits in an attempt to prevent swine flu from spreading into the lockup. Anti-riot police quickly quelled the disturbance, and seven inmates were injured, said the city's interior secretary, Jose Angel Avila.
"I'll state clearly: This is a population we have to take care of," Ebrard said. "I cannot permit, if I'm restricting the schools, some 50,000 people to enter the jails because there'd soon be an outbreak there."
Continental Airlines, the biggest U.S. carrier to Mexico, cut in half the number of seats on flights to Mexico. Delta and United too, were cutting Mexico-bound flights. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised U.S. residents against nonessential travel to Mexico, and many flights have been nearly empty.
Meanwhile, Mexico appeared to back away from suggestions the World Health Organization was slow to respond to the outbreak.
Mexico's chief epidemiologist, Dr. Miguel Angel Lezana, said Thursday his center alerted the Pan American Health Organization on April 16 about alarming occurrences of flu and atypical pneumonia in Mexico, but that it took eight days for WHO to announce the outbreak and declare that it was "very, very concerned" it could grow into a pandemic. Lezana said he wanted an investigation to find out what happened and prevent future delays.
WHO responded it acted immediately on the Mexican report.
On Friday, Lezana stated that WHO worked "effectively" on the outbreak.
"There was no delay by the Mexican authorities, nor was there any by the World Health Organization," Lezana told Radio Formula.
The head of WHO's regional operation, Mirta Roses, also played down any tensions.
"Any delays in the system have been minimal in terms of the response," she said.
(Associated Press writer Natalia Parra in Acapulco and Nestor Ikeda in Washington contributed to this report.)
Source: http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/781486.html
Swine flu hits Asia as Mexico shuts down to halt spread
by Marc Burleigh Marc Burleigh – Fri May 1, 3:30 pm ET
May Day is normally a raucous day in Mexico City as the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard fills with hundreds of thousands of boisterous marchers headed to the central Zocalo square. On Friday, a few tourists wandered down its broad sidewalks, lined with shuttered shops, banks and office towers.
"I'm going crazy in my house with this confinement," said retiree Rocio Lara. "There is nowhere to go, nowhere to spend your time."
Those seeking a quick escape from the capital of 20 million were warned not to come to Acapulco - and in a few cases residents threw stones at cars with Mexico City license plates. Acapulco officials made sure would-be visitors knew that bars, restaurants and tour boats are closed.
"Someone who has flu symptoms shouldn't think they can come to Acapulco for the weather and get better - that some fresh air and tequila and discos are going to make them forget about everything," Mayor Manuel Anorve said.
No new deaths from swine flu were reported Thursday night in the capital - the first time that's happened since an emergency was declared a week ago, Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said.
"This isn't to say we are lowering our guard or we think we no longer have problems," Ebrard said. "But we're moving in the right direction."
Cordova echoed his optimism, saying Mexicans with flu symptoms are seeking medical attention quickly, and those suspected of swine flu are getting treated even before anything is confirmed.
"If the treatment is given the first day, the patient is practically not contagious," Cordova said.
About 80 people protested outside Los Pinos, the presidential residence, to demand the government hand out antiviral drugs to children and the elderly. Currently, only doctors can prescribe flu-treating drugs.
Inmates rioted at a Mexico City prison after officials banned family visits in an attempt to prevent swine flu from spreading into the lockup. Anti-riot police quickly quelled the disturbance, and seven inmates were injured, said the city's interior secretary, Jose Angel Avila.
"I'll state clearly: This is a population we have to take care of," Ebrard said. "I cannot permit, if I'm restricting the schools, some 50,000 people to enter the jails because there'd soon be an outbreak there."
Continental Airlines, the biggest U.S. carrier to Mexico, cut in half the number of seats on flights to Mexico. Delta and United too, were cutting Mexico-bound flights. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised U.S. residents against nonessential travel to Mexico, and many flights have been nearly empty.
Meanwhile, Mexico appeared to back away from suggestions the World Health Organization was slow to respond to the outbreak.
Mexico's chief epidemiologist, Dr. Miguel Angel Lezana, said Thursday his center alerted the Pan American Health Organization on April 16 about alarming occurrences of flu and atypical pneumonia in Mexico, but that it took eight days for WHO to announce the outbreak and declare that it was "very, very concerned" it could grow into a pandemic. Lezana said he wanted an investigation to find out what happened and prevent future delays.
WHO responded it acted immediately on the Mexican report.
On Friday, Lezana stated that WHO worked "effectively" on the outbreak.
"There was no delay by the Mexican authorities, nor was there any by the World Health Organization," Lezana told Radio Formula.
The head of WHO's regional operation, Mirta Roses, also played down any tensions.
"Any delays in the system have been minimal in terms of the response," she said.
(Associated Press writer Natalia Parra in Acapulco and Nestor Ikeda in Washington contributed to this report.)
Source: http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/781486.html
Swine flu hits Asia as Mexico shuts down to halt spread
by Marc Burleigh Marc Burleigh – Fri May 1, 3:30 pm ET
AFP – Visitors leave the Princess Margaret Hospital, where a Mexican man was admitted suffering from the swine …MEXICO CITY (AFP) – The first case of swine flu was confirmed in Asia on Friday 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 2003 SARS 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 15 dead and 328 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."
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.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090501/ts_afp/healthfluworld
My reaction:
Mexico is the country, which a flu virus A(H1N1) as they first called swine flu, outbreak.
1. Mexico raised its confirmed swine flu death toll from 15 to 16 on Friday.
2. The country announced 5 –day shutdown, the measures by the government to prevent the outbreak from spread due to the large gathering public. President Felipe told the people to stay at home with family.
3. People with swine flu like symptoms are checked cautiously at hospital.
4. WHO announces the outbreak and declares that it can grow into a pandemic.
5. However, Cordva said, “If the treatment is given the first day, the patient is not contagion.
6. About 80 people protested to demand the government hand out antiviral drug to children and the elderly.
7. Even inmates were injured while rioting at a Mexico City prison after officials banned family visits.
8. Many airlines cut in the number of seats on flight to Mexico.
9. UN says they should postpone travel to flu hit countries. Authorities across the world have tightened travel restrictions. Many suspended flights to Mexico.
Conclusion:
A virus flu A(H1N1) has spread to many countries swiftly, but the WHO refers to it as typical influenza. The virus is not spread by contact with pigs, it is transmitted from person to person.
Mexico is the country, which a flu virus A(H1N1) as they first called swine flu, outbreak.
1. Mexico raised its confirmed swine flu death toll from 15 to 16 on Friday.
2. The country announced 5 –day shutdown, the measures by the government to prevent the outbreak from spread due to the large gathering public. President Felipe told the people to stay at home with family.
3. People with swine flu like symptoms are checked cautiously at hospital.
4. WHO announces the outbreak and declares that it can grow into a pandemic.
5. However, Cordva said, “If the treatment is given the first day, the patient is not contagion.
6. About 80 people protested to demand the government hand out antiviral drug to children and the elderly.
7. Even inmates were injured while rioting at a Mexico City prison after officials banned family visits.
8. Many airlines cut in the number of seats on flight to Mexico.
9. UN says they should postpone travel to flu hit countries. Authorities across the world have tightened travel restrictions. Many suspended flights to Mexico.
Conclusion:
A virus flu A(H1N1) has spread to many countries swiftly, but the WHO refers to it as typical influenza. The virus is not spread by contact with pigs, it is transmitted from person to person.
However, the number of the fatalities is not as great as SARS, which is estimated to have killed up to 50 million worldwide. And, every country are seeking for measures to prevent its spreading. Although, it is not as dangerous as the SARS epidemic, every country has to be on the watch out very carefully for it.
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Swine flu may impact supply chain
1. As we know, swine flu hasn't has a huge outbreak outside the Mexico, however, swine flu also have a great impact on the global supply chain because Mexico is a major of high-tech and heavy manufacturing companies.
2. Swine flu is directly impact on travel and tourism industry.
3. Moreover, this impact also directly affect to air freight and airlines industry.
4. Every company in Mexico has to begin the plan for supply chain disruptions.
Reference: Kris Colby, a Director in Ariba’s Spend Management Services group and specializes in strategic sourcing and risk reduction with retail and CPG companies.
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