Swine Influenza : Mexico could be the Epicenter of a Global Outbreak

On Sunday, all activities from concerts to sport events and church masses have been cancelled in Mexico City to prevent gatherings of people and possible virus spread within the mass.
President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, had ordered isolation of patients infected with the swine influenza. This disease has killed 81 people and sickened 1,324 people within the country since April 13. Most of the patients that died were between 25 to 45 years old.
Mexican soldiers and health officials are patrolling airports and bus stations, searching for people with clinical signs of fever, body ache, cough, sore throat, running nose, diarrhea, and vomiting.
Markets and restaurants are nearly empty and citizens - though some are only febrile - are hurrying to hospitals.
Mexicans are staying at home, while hospitals in the US are tracing patients with flu symptoms. Other countries are also conducting health checks at airports while the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the virus could potentially turn into a pandemic.
Mexico seems to have lost precious days or weeks in detecting this new influenza strain, a combination of human, swine, and avian virus, to which humans possibly do not have natural immunity against. Health officials have found cases in 16 states in Mexico. On Saturday alone, around 20 suspected cases have been reported in the country’s capital.
Meanwhile, 11 swine influenza cases have been confirmed in California, Texas, and Kansas. It is suspected that there are more in New York.
In New Zealand, 10 students from Auckland had just returned from Mexico and are treated for influenza symptoms suspected to be swine influenza even though none of the students are severely ill.
WHO on Saturday has asked all countries to intensify reporting and surveillance of the disease while airports around the world are checking passengers from Mexico for flu symptoms.
WHO Director General, Margaret Chan, said the never been found before virus has pandemic potential. But, she said, it is still too early to say whether the Mexican swine influenza outbreak will turn into a global outbreak.
WHO guidance recommends isolating patients and protecting all people around the patients with antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu. Too many patients have been identified in Mexico City to implement such solution now. Several influenza pandemic experts even say it is too late to contain the disease in Mexico and US.
Authorities in Mexico have ordered schools in the capital and states of Mexico and San Luis Potosi to be closed until May 6, 2009, and Catholic churches in the capital have cancelled Sunday masses.
Health authorities have noticed that flu cases have tripled at the end of March and early April, but at that time they thought the incident was related to the December-February flu season.
Asian countries that had experienced H5N1 avian influenza and SARS within the last few years had acted quickly. In airports and borders of Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan, local officials are screening passengers and people for flu-like symptoms. (AP/Reuters/AFP/DI)
Source : Kompas