04-25-2009, 06:21 PM
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| New Member
| New Mexico Flu could be come "global pandemic"
Quote: A new flu virus suspected of killing at least 60 people in Mexico has the potential to become a pandemic, the World Health Organization's chief says.
Margaret Chan said the outbreak was a "serious situation" which needed to be followed closely.Health experts say tests so far seem to link the illnesses in Mexico with a swine flu virus in the southern US.A top US health official said the strain of swine flu had spread widely and could not be contained.
Ms Chan cut short a visit to the US and returned to Geneva where the WHO's emergency committee met.
The committee can recommend declaring an international public health emergency and raise the global pandemic alert level - a move that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures.The WHO says it does not know the full risk yet.It is advising all member states to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations - particularly among young healthy adults, who seem to be the most affected in Mexico.Officials said most of those killed so far were young adults - rather than more vulnerable children and the elderly.Several people have also fallen ill in the US, and the authorities there are watching the situation south of the border closely.
US cases
Schools, museums and libraries have been closed across the Mexican capital's region and people are being urged to avoid shaking hands or sharing crockery.All public events have been suspended, an official said. Two previously sold-out soccer matches were played in empty stadiums to avoid potentially spreading the virus.The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico has recommended measures to avoid further contagion at Mass this Sunday.Priests have been told to place communion wafers in the hands of worshippers rather than in their mouths and to suggest to the congregation that kissing or shaking hands be avoided during the service.Across the border in the US, the authorities say about 200 children were absent from a school in the New York borough of Queens on Friday, presumed ill. Eight of the nine samples taken from children were determined to be probable cases of swine fever, said city health commissioner Dr Thomas Frieden.
He said those samples would be sent to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for further testing.
None of the 200 children had been hospitalised and many had fully recovered, said Dr Frieden, but the school could remain closed out of "an abundance of caution".
He urged people to maintain basic hygiene, such and covering their mouths when coughing and sneezing, washing hands regularly and keeping surfaces clean.
| -BBC
OMG WE ARE ALL DOOMED
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