Swine flu: virus has been in Mexico since February

[AdminOnline]

Swine flu emerged in Mexico months earlier than previously thought, the country's health minister has said, giving possible clues about the origins of the killer virus.

Officials had previously said that the first recorded case of the H1N1 virus in Mexico was from a woman who died in the southern state of Oaxaca on April 12.

However, in a news conference, Jose Cordova confirmed that a four-year-old boy in the eastern state of Veracruz had suffered from the virus as early as February. He survived the influenza.

A sample from the boy was sent to a US laboratory for anaylsis after swine flu was discovered in America.

"It came back confirmed," Mr Cordova said.

The announcement came as the probable death toll from the virus rose to 152.

The boy was one of about 1,800 people who suffered from a potent flu in the region in February, leading to calls to investigate if there was some kind of new epidemic.

However, Mr Cordova said there had been no evidence that a mutant human-to-human flu strain had emerged at that time.

"We never had this kind of epidemic in the world," he said. "This is the first time we have this kind of virus."

Mexico's Agriculture Department said that inspectors found no sign of swine flu among pigs in the region, adding that no infected pigs have been found yet anywhere in Mexico.

Swine flu has hospitalized almost 2,000 people in Mexico and spread to several countries including Britain, America, Spain and Israel.

Cases are also feared in New Zealand, Australia and South Korea.

The World Health Organization has raised its global alert level, signaling the swine flu virus was spreading from human to human in community outbreaks, but it stopped short of declaring a full-blown pandemic.

The WHO announcement in Geneva followed a decision by the top EU health official urging Europeans to postpone nonessential travel to parts of the US and Mexico because of the virus.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

[cewzp4]

scary sh*t.

[Lite]

I ordered some masks, but only because my wife rides the bus home and there are invariably some sick-ass ****ers coughing and hacking in that mobile petri dish.

[lastwish]

How bad is it in new york? I'm thinking of going there to visit during the summer but now I am not so sure.

[Gigabitch]

Be careful, Aeradalia! You're the closest one to the outbreak.

[misombra]

i'm just waiting for the day when this shit comes to new mexico.

[DoesntMatter]

I would rather just get it now and have immunity when everyone else is sick

[Mish]

Shit, I just read swine flu had been elevated to level 5:

Phase 5: Human-to-human transmission in at least two countries. Strong signal pandemic imminent.

The next level is full pandemic.


I'm watching Outbreak tonight

[Illusional]

i think that people are tripping out over nothing. remember the y2k thing??

raverboy

[Lipp]

Shit, I just read swine flu had been elevated to level 5:

Phase 5: Human-to-human transmission in at least two countries. Strong signal pandemic imminent.

The next level is full pandemic.


I'm watching Outbreak tonight

Really, the 4->5 step was pretty minimal. If I recall correctly it was just because a young girl had crossed the border from mexico into southern U.S and then died.

Makes me wonder how the hell their "scale" works. 5/6 with less than a hundred deaths and 90% contained within a single country? Hope they know what they're judging.

[doppelgaenger]

I just bought a pound of swine. I hope I dont catch anything. I nuke my meat anyway.

[Justplaying5050]

theyre just being over cautious so that people are informed about it.

reminds me a bit of how they randomly change the terror levels - i find this amusing

[Gribble]

*cough*SARS*cough*

[Junket]

For real.

It's just the flu.

If you come down with flu symptoms keep your hands clean, cover your mouth when you cough, avoid people and get to the doctor.

I'd suspect anyone our age would be able to fight it off.

It's good to get sick every now and then.

[Petit Papillon]

1 May 2009 -- The situation continues to evolve rapidly. As of 06:00 GMT, 1 May 2009, 11 countries have officially reported 331 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection.

The United States Government has reported 109 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death. Mexico has reported 156 confirmed human cases of infection, including nine deaths.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (34), Germany (3), Israel (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (3), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (8).

Further information on the situation will be available on the WHO website on a regular basis. WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders. 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.

There is also no risk of infection from this virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products. 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.


Information from [url]www.who.int[/url]

It's not so bad, I don't know why tv allover the world is doing such a panic . There are still more viruses which are killing more people ,and nobody cares for it as much as for this piggy-flu And those cases outside America, are just people which came back from holidays and they went straight to hospitals. No need to worry I think Who remember bird flu? All of those poor birds were killed ,tho it wasn't that serious because this virus wasn't spreading from bird to a human.I remember people were doing panic when some dove made a shit near them. hehehe .