Mexican Swine Flu Pandemic

Currently there is a panic about an alleged Mexican Swine Flu Pandemic! I am very skeptical. But here are some articles!

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Sky Harbor takes swine flu precautions

Mike Sakal, Michelle Reese, Tribune

April 28, 2009 - 10:40PM

Josefina arrives from Mexico City wearing a mask at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Terminal 4 on April 27, 2009. Passengers from flights from Mexico were wearing masks due to swine flu.

Tim Hacker, TribuneAir travelers continued to take their own precautions as they passed through Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Tuesday following confirmations of more swine flu cases in the United States and around the world.

Decision Theater tests pandemic flu plans

State tests flu samples; hospitals see rush

As AeroMexico flights arrived at Sky Harbor, numerous people wore masks as they passed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. The passengers voiced concerns about the flu situation in Mexico, where church services, sporting venues and other public events have been canceled.

There have been no reported cases of swine flu in Arizona. The swine flu has been confirmed in at least 64 cases in the United States. Mexico officials suspect swine flu in 152 deaths in recent weeks.

Arriving and departing passengers at Sky Harbor raised a variety of concerns Tuesday.

Adrian Hernandez, 28, a chef for AeroMexico who lives in Phoenix, was preparing to leave for Culiacan in the western state of Sinaloa to visit his wife for two weeks. He said he had two masks and sanitary napkins for the trip.

“It’s crazy there,” Hernandez said. “Nobody’s in the streets. I’m taking whatever precaution I can.”

Federal authorities at Sky Harbor and other ports of entry around the United States are vigilantly watching for travelers arriving who may show flulike symptoms, such as cough, high fever, sore throat or body aches, said U.S. Customs spokeswoman Bonnie Arellano.

If a traveler appears to be very ill, he or she may be questioned regarding their health and travel itinerary, she said.

“If it’s notable, you’re coughing and you appear sick, you’re emanating those signs we’re looking for, we’ll pull you aside, put a mask on you,” and ask questions regarding where a traveler has been and when, Arellano said.

Warren Eales, acting port director for U.S. Customs at Sky Harbor, told the Tribune on Tuesday that no passengers arriving in Phoenix or departing for Mexico had to be detained because of flu-like symptoms, and that people are heeding the advisories by not traveling to Mexico.

“So far, so good,” Eales said.

Eales also said he’s noticed the number of passengers traveling to Mexico have dropped by about 50 percent since customs agents have monitored people for flu-like symptoms since Friday.

However, a supervisor at the reservations counter for US Airways, said staff has not seen a decline in passengers departing for Mexico.

US Airways, which makes the most trips from Phoenix to Mexico, lifted some restrictions to change travel plans to Mexico.

“We haven’t had any flight cancellations to Mexico,” Valerie Wunder, spokeswoman for the airlines, said Tuesday. “We’re really just monitoring the situation. We are getting some calls about people wanting to change their flights, but we don’t have a number on how many that is.”

She said the airline is giving crew members gloves and hand sanitizer to use during beverage and meal service.

“We’re going above and beyond our normal cleaning procedures,” Wunder said. “We’re just trying to communicate with them and making sure they know what to do to stay health.”

Jorge Bautista, 35, wore a mask as he walked into the airport from Mexico City. He said he was concerned because three of his co-workers came down with the flu in his accounting office and that the 70 employees where he worked are required to wear masks.

“If people don’t need to go outside their homes, then they stay inside their home,” Bautista said. “We are trying to take precautions. We have never seen this situation in Mexico City. A lot of people are worried.”

Cheri Burke, a missionary who helps tribes in southern Mexico and lives near Prescott, flew in from Huatulco, Oaxaca. Burke said about 50 percent of the people at the airport in Mexico were wearing masks.

Burke was not wearing a mask because the flu had not spread to the area where she lived.

“The only thing that worries me is that I have meetings here, and don’t want to get sick and miss any of them,” Burke said.

Sky Harbor officials said they are prepared to distribute masks to all travelers if they are asked to do so by the U.S. Center of Disease Control.

U.S. officials advised Americans against most travel to Mexico on Monday as the swine flu virus that began there has stirred real concerns by spreading to the United States and beyond.

There are 18 daily flights from Phoenix to Mexico, deputy aviation director Deborah Ostreicher said during a press conference with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon on Monday.

“The city of Phoenix for five years has been prepared for this type of contingency” should emergency steps be needed, Gordon said.

“We practice for this at the airport all year long,” Ostreicher said, adding that staff at the airport are “cleaning carefully” all the public areas.

Julie Rodriguez, spokeswoman for Sky Harbor, said Tuesday she had not noticed any changes in foot traffic in the last 24 hours.

“We won’t know how this affected international flights for another month or two,” she said, noting the airport gets its numbers from the various airlines there.

Local travelers are not the only ones taking health steps.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is taking precautions, especially in the county’s jails, which houses suspected illegal immigrants from Mexico and South America.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a press release that he will supply protective gear for deputies and jail detention officers and strongly recommend they use them when interacting with and arresting suspected illegal immigrants.

The jails will also screen all incoming inmates for the virus and isolate anyone suspected of being exposed.

The regular flu season — strain A and B — is already on the decline. The Arizona Department of Health Services has asked its first-line responders — those in doctor’s offices, hospitals and urgent cares — to refer any cases of strain A to it for further testing, said Laura Oxley, a DHS spokeswoman. Four flu cases that did not appear to be linked to the two previously known types of influenza A were sent to the CDC on Tuesday, Oxley said.

“We’ve been watching for things like that. We know influenza changes. We know there have been issues with flu epidemics and pandemics in the past,” Oxley said. “We’re prepared and have increased the surveillance and the communication with the doctors.”

Health officials are urging people to follow typical safety measures for the flu: Stay home if you feel ill or have a high fever or body aches. Frequent hand washing is recommended.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Mexico shuts nonessential services amid swine flu

Apr. 30, 2009 08:41 AM

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Mexico is telling citizens to stay home, urging businesses to close for five days and suspending government services as the World Health Organization warns the swine flu outbreak is on the brink of becoming a global epidemic.

In the United States, where swine flu has been confirmed in 11 states, President Barack Obama told Americans the government was "taking the utmost precautions and preparations" to stop the virus.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a televised address that only essential businesses such as supermarkets, hospitals and pharmacies should stay open, and only critical government workers such as police and soldiers would be on duty from Friday through Tuesday. School had already been canceled nationwide through Tuesday.

The steps are aimed at stopping further spread of the virus, blamed for 168 deaths in Mexico and one in the United States, even though the WHO has suggested nations should focus on minimizing its effects, not containing its spread.

"There will be no government activities - those that are not fundamental for citizens - nor any private-sector activities that are not fundamental to common life," Calderon said Wednesday night in a televised address.

"There is no safer place to protect yourself against catching swine flu than in your house," he said, defending the government against criticism that it had been slow to act against signs of a new and dangerous virus.

In the U.S., both Vice President Joe Biden and the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in televised interviews Thursday there would be no practical benefit to closing the U.S.-Mexican border. Biden said on CBS that it would be a "monumental undertaking" with far-reaching consequences.

Biden also said on NBC's "Today" show that he is advising his own family to stay off commercial airlines and even subways because of swine flu. If one person sneezes on a confined aircraft, he said, "it goes all the way through the aircraft."

Within two hours, Biden's office issued a statement backing off the remarks and suggesting he was talking about travel to Mexico.

His precautions go beyond official advice from the U.S. government; Obama merely urged people to wash their hands, cover their coughs and stay home when they feel sick. Calderon gave similar advice.

The WHO on Wednesday raised its alert level to Phase 5, the second-highest, indicating a pandemic may be imminent, and was talking about moving to Phase 6. The Phase 5 alert - the first ever - activates added efforts to produce a vaccine.

"It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in Geneva. "We do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them."

Switzerland and the Netherlands became the latest countries to report swine flu infections. In addition to Mexico and the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria have confirmed cases.

The Swiss government said a 19-year-old student with swine flu was mistakenly released from the hospital and then hastily readmitted. The Dutch said a 3-year-old child who recently returned from Mexico had contracted swine flu and was being treated and recovering well.

European Union health ministers planned emergency talks in Luxembourg to coordinate national efforts in preventing the spread of swine flu in Europe.

WHO flu chief Dr. Keiji Fukuda said it was difficult to say whether the outbreak justified declaring a Phase 6 pandemic.

By definition, he said, a pandemic means "established transmission of this new virus in multiple countries and multiple regions of the world. So right now we're saying that we see it convincingly in two countries in one region of the world." "We think we are in the process of moving toward there, but we still need to see the evidence that we are there," Fukuda said.

The United States confirmed its first swine flu death on Wednesday, a Mexican toddler who visited Texas with his family and died Monday night in Houston. Thirty-nine Marines were confined to their base in California after one came down with the virus, a mix of pig, bird and human genes to which people have limited natural immunity.

The outbreak appeared to be stabilizing in Mexico, the epicenter. New deaths and cases seemed to be leveling off after an aggressive public health campaign launched when the epidemic was declared April 23. Hospital records suggest the outbreak may have peaked here last week.

Calderon said authorities would use the partial shutdown to consider whether to extend emergency measures or ease some restrictions. The dates of the shutdown include a weekend and two holidays, Labor Day and Cinco de Mayo, minimizing the added disruption.

Even before the shutdown went into full effect, a surprised radio reporter exclaimed that traffic was unusually light Thursday. Businessmen in surgical masks trudged in for their last day of work, passing beggars who kept their masks on too. Even the capital's legendary smog seemed to be easing.

In the U.S., the CDC and state officials have confirmed cases in New York, Texas, California, Maine, Kansas, Massachusetts, Indiana, Ohio, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. Eight states closed schools Wednesday, affecting 130,000 students in Texas alone.

Obama said his administration has made sure that needed medical supplies are on hand and he praised the Bush administration for stockpiling 50 million doses of antiviral medications.

"The key now is to just make sure we are maintaining great vigilance, that everybody responds appropriately when cases do come up. And individual families start taking very sensible precautions that can make a huge difference," he said.

Ecuador, Cuba and Argentina have all banned travel to or from Mexico, and Peru has banned inbound flights. The Panama Canal Authority ordered pilots and other employees who board ships passing through the waterway to use surgical masks and gloves.

The U.S., the European Union and other countries have discouraged nonessential travel to Mexico. Some countries have urged their citizens to avoid the United States and Canada as well. Health officials said such bans would do little to stop the virus.

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Cabinet ministers to discuss swine flu, and the health minister said France would ask the European Union to suspend flights to Mexico.

Medical detectives have not pinpointed where the outbreak began. Scientists believe that somewhere in the world, months or even a year ago, a pig virus jumped to a human and mutated, and has been spreading between humans ever since.

China has gone on a rhetorical offensive to squash any suggestion it's the source of the swine flu after some Mexican officials were quoted in media reports in the past week saying the virus came from Asia and the governor of Mexico's Veracruz state was quoted as saying the virus specifically came from China.

One of the deaths in Mexico directly attributed to swine flu was that of a Bangladeshi immigrant, said Mexico's chief epidemiologist, Miguel Angel Lezana. He said the unnamed Bangladeshi had lived in Mexico for six months and was recently visited by a brother who was reportedly ill. Lezana suggested the brother could have brought the virus from Pakistan or Bangladesh.

By March 9, the first symptoms were showing up in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where pig farming is a key industry in mountain hamlets and where small clinics provide the only local health care.

The earliest confirmed case was there: a 5-year-old boy who was one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe. People from La Gloria kept going to jobs in Mexico City despite their illnesses, and could have infected people in the capital.

Days later, a door-to-door tax inspector was hospitalized with acute respiratory problems in the neighboring state of Oaxaca, infecting 16 hospital workers before she became Mexico's first confirmed death.

Neighbors of the inspector, Maria Adela Gutierrez, said Wednesday that she fell ill after pairing up with a temporary worker from Veracruz who seemed to have a very bad cold.

Jose Cordova, the Mexican health secretary, said getting proper treatment within 48 hours of falling ill "is fundamental for getting the best results" and suggested people can survive the virus if it is quickly diagnosed and treated.

But it was neither caught quickly nor treated properly in the early days in Mexico, which lacked the capacity to identify the virus, and whose health care system has become the target of widespread anger and distrust. In case after case, patients have complained of being misdiagnosed, turned away by doctors and denied access to drugs.

Swine flu has symptoms nearly identical to regular flu - fever, cough and sore throat - and spreads like regular flu, through tiny particles in the air, when people cough or sneeze. People with flu symptoms are advised to stay at home, wash their hands and cover their sneezes.

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Despite few cases, swine-flu fears hit state

Worried patients jam hospitals; 3 schools shut down; churches tell ill to stay home

by Ginger Rough and Dennis Wagner - May. 1, 2009 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

Although only a few swine-flu cases have been confirmed in Arizona, the viral impact of the outbreak stretches from wary customs agents on the border to clogged emergency rooms in Phoenix to would-be backpackers at the Grand Canyon.

On Thursday, state health officials said a total of four swine-flu cases have been verified, and the number of school closures increased to three. Classrooms will be empty for seven days at two Chandler schools: Tarwater Elementary and Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary. Moon Valley Elementary in northwest Phoenix was closed Wednesday.

Authorities declined to release details about the new victims, all children, including how they contracted the disease.

"There is nothing more important in public health than confidentiality," said Dr. Bob England, medical director for the Maricopa County Public Health Department.

He said all cases here have been mild.

Nationally, more than 110 cases of the H1N1 virus have been confirmed in 15 states. Besides the verified cases in Arizona, 52 samples of suspected swine flu have been sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, 312 people have tested positive for swine flu. Twelve deaths in Mexico are confirmed cases of swine flu, as was that of a toddler who died this week after traveling from Mexico to Texas. Nine other countries have reported outbreaks.

Mexico's Health Ministry previously said that 168 people were believed killed by swine flu, but it is now reporting only confirmed deaths.

Will Humble, interim director at the Arizona Department of Health Services, said 95 percent of the suspected cultures tested by the CDC have been positive for swine flu.

Because of that, he added, "it's likely that by the end of the day Saturday, we'll have 56 confirmed cases" in Arizona.

As the epidemic grows, the threat remains unclear.

Humble said researchers are trying to determine H1N1's virulence. If they conclude that symptoms are mostly mild, he added, extreme "intervention" methods may be dropped.

"We want to find out what is happening with those patients," Humble said. "We don't want to continue doing school dismissals if it isn't warranted by the severity of the virus."

NAU student falls ill

One of the suspected cultures came from a coed at Northern Arizona University who is being interviewed by health officials in Flagstaff to determine how she became sick.

The student is still showing symptoms and is being treated in her dormitory room, said Tom Bauer, assistant director of NAU public affairs. She is taking her meals in her room and is being asked to wear a mask if she ventures into common areas.

"She's got a lot of friends helping her," Bauer added. "The students are taking it in stride."

NAU remains open under "normal business conditions" while lab results are pending, but residence halls and public dining areas are being disinfected as a precaution.

"It's pretty scary," said Kathleen Templin, student-body president. "We all live in the residence halls and eat together."

NAU is scheduled to begin final exams next week. Templin, a 20-year-old sophomore, said she would support a decision to close the university if the student was positive for swine flu. "Finals can be rescheduled," she said. "People's lives can't."

NAU has set up a 24-hour phone bank at 928-523-0007 for parents and students with questions.

The Havasupai Tribe of northern Arizona notified hundreds of would-be campers that public visits to the reservation in the Grand Canyon are canceled.

Havasupai, an international tourist attraction with about 450 full-time tribal residents, was closed to visitors in August after floods wiped out campgrounds and damaged iconic waterfalls. Reopening was planned today, but a tribal representative said the shutdown has been extended to June 1 to prevent the introduction of swine flu.

Dave Brown, recreation-program director at Scottsdale Community College, said he and 16 students were six hours from departure when the tribe called, forcing them to cancel vans and hotel reservations.

"We've been planning this for months to hike down there and explore the waterfalls," Brown said, adding, "It's disappointing."

Hospitals crowded

Hospitals in Maricopa County reported a surge in patients suffering from sniffles, coughs and fear - but no serious illness.

Health officials asked residents not to visit the overburdened emergency rooms unless seriously ill.

"If you aren't that sick, do as you would before," England said. "Stay home, get some rest, drink plenty of fluids. You'll get over this."

At Banner Estrella Medical Center in Phoenix, spokeswoman Tiffany Tcheng said 309 patients crowded into the ER on Wednesday, about a quarter more than normal. Half of them proved to be what doctors call "worried well" patients with no serious illness.

Dr. Jeffrey Schultz, pre-hospital director for John C. Lincoln Hospital in north Phoenix, said his ER was hit by a 25 percent patient increase over the past few days.

"Our concern is, we still have normal ER patients - our trauma patients, our heart-attack patients - and our concern is this could impact our ability to care for them," he said.

State officials said they are aggressively trying to slow the virus' spread. On Thursday, Maricopa Medical Center announced restrictions for the duration of the flu outbreak, including a ban on child visitors under age 12. Anyone with flu symptoms is being asked to stay away, and any flu patients would be required to wear surgical masks outside their rooms.

State public-health officials said they believe the virus is not causing severe symptoms. They have not been able to find anyone who has been hospitalized with the virus in Arizona.

Safety measures

Marie Chapple, spokeswoman for Valley Metro in the Phoenix area, said a germicidal solution is being used daily to clean handrails and seats on all buses. Some bus drivers have asked for protective masks, Chapple added.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and some churches also began taking precautions. On Thursday, the diocese went into "heightened awareness," allowing parishes to impose safety protocols. Among the options: urging ill congregants not to attend Mass; not serving wine during Communion; and eliminating the exchange of peace handshakes and hugs.

Along the Arizona-Mexico border, some U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection agents at entry ports have begun wearing protective masks. The inspectors, on heightened alert, are authorized to hold travelers with flu symptoms for quarantine. To date, no border crosser in Arizona has been detained for that reason.

Republic reporters Sean Holstege, Anne Ryman, Chris Hawley and Maria Polletta contributed to this article.

More on this topic

If you're ill

First, don't panic. It's still flu season in Arizona, so onset of illness doesn't automatically mean it's swine flu.

Consider your symptoms. Flu in general is characterized by high fever (above 100 degrees), chills, lethargy and loss of appetite.

Reported swine-flu symptoms also include runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

See a physician as soon as possible if you're not well. Swine flu and some seasonal flu respond well to antivirals.

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Oh, Joe: VP's off-base flu advice needs do-over

Apr. 30, 2009 12:05 PM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Oh, Joe.

Vice President Joe Biden - with a well-deserved reputation as someone who shoots from the lip - made it through the first 100 days of the Obama administration without any major gaffes. But on Day 101 the vice president, well, took a nose dive when it came to the government's talking points on air travel during the swine flu outbreak.

At 7:05 a.m. Thursday, Biden was asked on NBC's "Today" show what advice he would give to a family member who was considering flying to Mexico.

"I would tell members of my family - and I have - I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now," Biden said. "It's not that it's going to Mexico. It's you're in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft." Biden went on to say he wouldn't suggest that they ride the subway either.

Avoid all airline travel? Don't ride the subway?

Cue the backpedaling.

At 8:47 a.m., Biden's office put out a statement gamely trying to rewrite the vice president's words:

"The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico," said Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander. "If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways."

By 10 a.m., Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano had supplied her own do-over for the VP:

"If he could say that over again, he would say if they're feeling sick they should stay off of public transit or confined spaces because that is indeed the advice that we're giving," Napolitano said on MSNBC.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who takes the subway to work every day, also tried to channel the vice president.

"I think what Joe Biden was talking about was, it is true if you have all these symptoms, we recommend you stay home," Bloomberg said.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also tried to close the gap that Biden left between "what he said and what he meant to say."

"If anybody was unduly alarmed for whatever reason, we would apologize for that," Gibbs added.

The people who provide and promote travel on planes and trains were not amused.

There was "extreme disappointment." There was talk of "fear-mongering." There was gentle scolding. There was clarification.

For the record, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site says this: "CDC has NOT recommended that people avoid travel at this time."

It does recommend that people avoid nonessential travel to Mexico, the flu's epicenter, and that those who are sick stay home.

With Biden's track record of impolitic remarks, it was only a matter of time before he found himself trying to eat his words as vice president.

President Barack Obama knew that going in. He praised his running mate's candor and made light of Biden's penchant for "rhetorical flourishes."

When they were still presidential rivals, Biden apologized for describing Obama as "articulate" and "clean," remarks that some thought had racial overtones.

Biden also had to defend his remark that "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."

He has been surprisingly disciplined since the inauguration - although when he joked about Chief Justice John Roberts flubbing Obama's oath of office, Obama didn't crack a smile.

That's just Joe.

"Sometimes maybe I shouldn't be as straightforward as I am," Biden said Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes."

"I am who I am."

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Clay Thompson

Arizona Republic columnist Clay Thompson offers his humorous look at life in Arizona. His Valley 101 column answers your questions about living here.

Pork won't give you swine flu, and masks help — sort of

Today, we have two questions about this swine flu thing, pretty much condensations of several questions I have received on this matter lately.

People, I know this idea of a pandemic is pretty scary, but let's not get all panicky, OK? If things actually did really get bad, you could do what most reasonable folk do: Stay home and work in your bathrobe and eat plenty of pie.

Anyway, the first question, or at least the representative of such questions, is from a guy who said his yard “is a gathering place for swine,” and he was worried about it. He even sent some pictures.

They turned out to be pictures of javelinas, which are really not true swine at all but are more closely related to hippopotamuses.

Secondly, you can't get swine flu from eating properly cooked pork. The virus moves from person to person the way any other flu virus does, but not by having a slice of ham with your eggs.

Next question: How effective are those surgical masks in blocking the swine flu virus? From what I've learned, they are a good idea but not a guarantee.

The weave of most such masks is not small enough to block something as microscopic as a virus. However, viruses tend to be spread by what they call “large-droplet secretions.” Yuck. That means by sneezes or coughs or some other really direct contact, and from what I am told, that mostly happens in about a 3-foot radius of the recipient.

If the time did come for you to be truly concerned, you could get yourself something called an “N95 respirator.” They supposedly can block viruses. Don't ask me where you can get such a thing. I don't know, but if it comes to it, I'll find out.

Reach Thompson at clay.thompson@arizona republic.com or 602-444-8612.

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Mexicans stock up for 5-day flu-linked hiatus at home

by Chris Hawley - May. 1, 2009 12:00 AM

Republic Mexico City Bureau

MEXICO CITY - What do you do when the government tells you to stay in your house for five days? José Luis Ramírez has a plan.

"We're going to get a little drunk," he said as he and two cousins filled a cart with beer, rum, wine, hot dogs and Cheetos at a Walmart in Mexico City.

Across Mexico, residents are snapping up DVDs, renting video games and stocking up on food for what is shaping up to be a major five-day quarantine.

President Felipe Calderón on Wednesday ordered all schools, "non-essential" businesses and government agencies to close Friday through Tuesday to avoid spreading swine flu through person-to-person contact. He urged all 103 million Mexicans to stay in their homes. The deadly, worldwide outbreak originated in Mexico, where all but one of the flu-related deaths occurred. The other was a Mexican toddler who died this week during a trip to Texas.

In the northern city of San Luis Potosí, Blockbuster store manager Alfredo Zapata said rentals have gone through the roof.

"It's doubled or tripled - even more in video games," he said. "If you're looking for a video game now, there's nothing."

Vendors of pirated DVDs were doing a booming business, said Hector Jiménez, who was selling movies for 25 pesos ($1.84) at a stand in south Mexico City.

"All the theaters are closed, so this is a way for people to see those movies anyway," he said.

To make sure Mexicans have something to watch on TV, the Mexican Soccer Federation said all 176 professional and semipro games will go ahead - but without fans in the stadiums.

The Sky satellite-television company began transmitting the HBO Family channel to its Mexican subscribers for free to help keep them entertained, said Luis Estévez, customer-service spokesman.

Many Mexicans said they were willing to put up with the sequestering during a period that includes two holidays: Today is Mexico's Labor Day, and Tuesday is Cinco de Mayo. But some said they were skeptical the government's plan would work.

"I think they're worried about doing too little, so they're overreacting," said David Zúñiga, co-owner of a company that rents inflatable jumping games.

He said he and co-owner Armando Navarro plan to paint their offices during the closure.

The Mexico City government said it will send police to close businesses that stay open. But some owners vowed defiance.

"President Calderón doesn't have to pay the rent," bookstore owner Humberto Casillas said.

Reporter Sergio Solache contributed to this article.

Source

Mexican health chief: Swine flu cases leveling off

Apr. 30, 2009 01:37 PM

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's top health official said Thursday the number of new swine flu cases is stabilizing in the nation at the epicenter of the outbreak.

Health secretary Jose Angel Cordova told a news conference he hoped the trend will continue and that a vaccine would be available in six months. European health ministers said they would speed efforts to develop such a vaccine.

The World Health Organization's flu chief, reacting to similar comments from other Mexican officials, cautioned that case numbers often go up and down, and said the WHO had yet to see concrete evidence that swine flu, believed to have killed 168 people in Mexico, was leveling off.

"It's a mixed pattern out there," Dr. Keiji Fukuda said. "What's happening in one part of the country is not necessarily what's happening in another part of the country."

New cases of swine flu were confirmed in the United States and Europe a day after the WHO said the virus threatened to become a global epidemic and raised its alert level to Phase 5, the second-highest stage, for the first time.

Health officials in the United States said Thursday the number of confirmed cases had risen to 109. President Barack Obama told Americans the government was "taking the utmost precautions and preparations" to stop the virus.

The Mexican health secretary's comments followed similarly hopeful remarks from the mayor of Mexico City, who said statistics indicated "we are entering a period of stabilization."

In Luxembourg, European Union health ministers holding an emergency talks on swine flu agreed to work "without delay" with drugmakers to develop a pilot vaccine to fight the virus.

U.S. scientists are racing to develop the key vaccine ingredient, a strain of the virus engineered to trigger the immune system. But they cautioned Thursday it would take months before enough doses could be ready for necessary testing in humans.

On Wednesday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon ordered citizens to stay home, businesses to close and government services to be suspended for five days beginning Friday.

Calderon said only essential businesses such as supermarkets, hospitals and pharmacies should stay open, and only critical government workers such as police and soldiers would be on duty from Friday through Tuesday.

School had already been canceled nationwide through Tuesday. The steps are aimed at stopping further spread of the virus even though the WHO has suggested nations should focus on minimizing its effects, not containing its spread.

"There is no safer place to protect yourself against catching swine flu than in your house," Calderon said Wednesday night in a televised address. He defended the government against criticism that it had been slow to act against signs of a new and dangerous virus.

In the U.S., Vice President Joe Biden said on NBC's "Today" show he is advising his own family to stay off commercial airlines and even subways because of swine flu. His office later backtracked and said the vice president was talking about travel to Mexico.

Biden's precautions go beyond official advice from the U.S. government. Obama merely urged people to wash their hands, cover their coughs and stay home when they feel sick. Calderon gave similar advice.

Biden and the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in televised interviews Thursday there would be no practical benefit to closing the U.S.-Mexican border to stop the flu's spread.

The WHO's Phase 5 alert activates added efforts to produce a vaccine. Fukuda said Thursday there was nothing in the past day that would prompt the U.N. body to raise the alert further.

"So, at this time again, I want to repeat there is nothing to us which immunologically suggests today that we should be moving toward phase 6," he told reporters.

The WHO raised its tally of confirmed swine flu cases around the world to 257 from 148, with most of the new cases from Mexico. The WHO count lags behind what individual countries report.

The Red Cross said Thursday it is readying an army of 60 million volunteers who can be deployed around the world to help slow the virus' spread, including by educating people about hygiene and caring for the sick.

Swine flu is a mix of pig, bird and human genes to which people have limited natural immunity. It has symptoms nearly identical to regular flu - fever, cough and sore throat - and spreads similarly, through tiny particles in the air, when people cough or sneeze. About 36,000 people die each year of flu in the United States.

Calderon said authorities would use the five-day partial shutdown in Mexico to consider whether to extend emergency measures or ease some restrictions. The dates include a weekend and two holidays, Labor Day and Cinco de Mayo, minimizing the added disruption.

Obama said his administration has made sure that needed medical supplies are on hand and he praised the Bush administration for stockpiling 50 million doses of antiviral medications.

Several nations have banned travel to or from Mexico, and some countries have urged their citizens to avoid the United States and Canada as well. Health officials said such bans would do little to stop the virus.

China has gone on a rhetorical offensive to squash any suggestion it's the source of the swine flu after some Mexican officials suggested it sprang from China or elsewhere in Asia. A Mexican health official has also suggested the virus could have been brought to Mexico from Pakistan or Bangladesh.

By March 9, the first symptoms were showing up in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where pig farming is a key industry in mountain hamlets and where small clinics provide the only local health care.

The earliest confirmed case was a 5-year-old Veracruz boy, one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe. People from La Gloria kept going to jobs in Mexico City despite their illnesses, and could have infected people there.

Mexico's health care system has become the target of widespread anger and distrust. In case after case, patients have complained of being misdiagnosed, turned away by doctors and denied access to drugs.

Source

World takes drastic [and useless] steps to contain swine flu

Apr. 29, 2009 02:22 PM

Associated Press

From Egypt's order that all 300,000 pigs in the country be slaughtered to travel bans and putting the kibosh on kissing, the world is taking drastic - and some say debatable - measures to combat swine flu.

Egypt ordered the pig slaughter even though there hasn't been a single case of swine flu there and there is no evidence that pigs have spread the disease. Britain, with only five cases, is trying to buy 32 million masks. And in the United States, President Barack Obama said more of the country's 132,000 schools may have to be shuttered.

At airports from Japan to South Korea to Greece and Turkey, thermal cameras were trained on airline passengers to see if any were feverish. And Lebanon discouraged traditional Arab peck-on-the-cheek greetings, even though no one has come down with the virus there.

All this and more, even though world health experts say many of these measures may not stop the disease from spreading. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to the second-highest level, meaning it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent.

"Scientifically speaking, the main thing is that every virus behaves differently," said Joerg Hacker, president of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's top public health authority. "At the moment, the main issue is to get to know this virus, how it works."

In Germany, where officials confirmed three cases, Lufthansa announced that starting Thursday it will put a doctor aboard all flights to Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Experts said that makes sense: The doctors will be able to field questions from uneasy passengers and tend to anyone who might fall ill.

The World Health Organization said total bans on travel to Mexico - such as one imposed by Argentina, which hasn't had any confirmed cases - were questionable because the virus is already fairly widespread.

Roselyne Bachelot, France's health minister, said she would ask the European Union to suspend all flights to Mexico at a meeting Thursday in Luxembourg.

Travel bans were effective during the 2003 outbreak of SARS in Asia, because that illness can be transmitted only by people who already show symptoms. With flu, by contrast, the incubation period ranges from 24 hours to four days, meaning people often are infectious before they have symptoms.

Health officials don't know enough about swine flu right now to say what the precise incubation period is, but if it's similar to other flu, people are likely able to spread it before they're sick.

"WHO does not recommend closing of borders and does not recommend restrictions of travel," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the Geneva-based organization's flu chief. "From an international perspective, closing borders or restricting travel would have very little effect, if any effect at all, at stopping the movement of this virus."

Nor will killing pigs, as Egypt began doing Wednesday, infuriating pig farmers who blocked streets and stoned Health Ministry workers' vehicles in protest. While pigs are banned entirely in some Muslim countries because of religious dietary restrictions, they are raised in Egypt for consumption by the country's Christian minority.

Unlike bird flu, where the H5N1 strain that spread to humans was widespread in bird populations and officials worried about people's exposure to infected birds, WHO says there is no similar concern about pigs - and no evidence that people have contracted swine flu by eating pork or handling pigs.

"There is no association that we've found between pigs and the disease in humans," WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said.

Dr. Nikki Shindo, a WHO flu expert, said the agency will consider requests to stop calling the disease swine flu, since the virus is not food-borne and has nothing to do with eating pork.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and others have suggested a new name, arguing that swine flu implies a problem with pork products. China, Russia and Ukraine are among countries that have banned pork imports from Mexico and parts of the United States affected by swine flu.

But some anti-flu measures have merit, such as Obama's admonition Wednesday that more American schools might have to be closed temporarily if swine flu cases spread. Already tens of thousands of students in Texas, New York, California, Chicago and elsewhere are out of school.

The WHO said closing schools and public places, along with banning or restricting mass gatherings, can be a way to contain the spread of disease. Epidemiologists call it "social distancing," and the idea is simple: If you keep people who have the virus away from others, you can stop the chain of transmission.

"That's a technique we would be recommending in a pandemic," said WHO's Thompson. "We would recommend it to nations as a useful technique to be applied given the special circumstances of each nation."

Officials in Hong Kong, which has no confirmed cases, said workers were scrubbing public toilets every two hours in an effort to improve hygiene.

"Not only will we be stepping up our usual efforts, but also we will make special efforts to make sure that our back alleys, public housing estates, recreation and transportation facilities are thoroughly cleansed and disinfected," said Gabriel Leung, undersecretary for the Food and Health Bureau.

Experts, however, said it's debatable how much good disinfecting public places will do. It probably helps cut down on bacteria and kill viruses lurking on surfaces, but it's unclear whether it would stop person-to-person transmission.

Ditto the advice to stop kissing on the cheek, which was among the earliest measures - along with refraining from handshakes - to be recommended by authorities in Mexico.

WHO's Thompson was noncommittal on the "don't kiss" advice, saying only: "There are different national circumstances that health officials are going to know far better than we will. It's up to them to make that call."

But at a news conference announcing the elevated pandemic level, WHO chief Margaret Chan went further, suggesting it might be time to rethink the traditional three kisses on the cheek popular in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe.

"Perhaps instead of having the traditional three hugs to say hello and welcome your friends, maybe you don't do that anymore," she said. "Don't hold each other and hug their face three times. That is just an example to say continue with your business, but try to pay special attention to personal hygiene.' "

The flu virus is airborne and spread through tiny particles - mostly through sneezing and coughing. That helps explain why governments worldwide have been distributing millions of face masks, even though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and other agencies have questioned their effectiveness.

Some doctors warn masks might even be harmful, causing people to take risks - like venturing into crowds or neglecting to wash hands - in the mistaken belief the mask protects them. More expensive high filtration masks like those used by health professionals can filter out fine particles carried in the air, but even these must be used properly to give real protection.

Other measures, such as installing thermal cameras at airports to screen passengers from infected countries, are simply inconclusive. Scanners were set up across Asia during the SARS outbreak, but officials aren't sure they caught any cases. WHO says the usefulness of such devices is debatable.

Amid the flurry of measures being taken, fear mingled with a sense of fatalism.

"You can't protect yourself - not in the way that people are traveling nowadays," said Karin Henriksson, 56, of Stockholm.

"Then you would have to put the entire population in quarantine. And you can't do that, can you?"

Let's not let the facts keep us from scaring the krap out of people.

Get this the two Chandler kids who had the alleged deadly swine flu are fully recovered! But that didn't prevent the government nannies who run the Chandler schools from making a big deal out of it and closing two schools.

Source

Swine flu closes two Chandler schools

Mike Branom, Tribune

April 30, 2009 - 2:57PM , updated: April 30, 2009 - 4:07PM

Two children infected by the fast-spreading virus, among four in Maricopa County, attend elementary schools in the Chandler Unified School District, officials said Thursday.

Both have recovered.

Due to fears of the flu spreading, health officials and district administrators agreed to weeklong closures of both schools: Hartford Sylvia Encinas, 700 N. Hartford Street; and Tarwater, 2300 S. Gardner Drive.

All county swine flu cases involve kids

School closed after swine flu confirmation

On Wednesday, a northeast Phoenix elementary school was closed after it was determined an 8-year-old boy was the state’s the first confirmed case.

The fourth victim is recovering, but county public health director Dr. Bob England said that child’s school will not need to be shut. Apparently, the student did not come to school while infectious.

England expects more cases to emerge. Currently, the state is waiting to hear from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about test results of 40 more samples taken from Arizonans suspected of coming down with the flu.

However, health officials are emphasizing this flu strain appears not to be stronger than the typical outbreaks occurring every winter.

Nearly 300 schools scattered around the country are closed as the nation's swine flu caseload passed 110.

The only reported U.S. death is that of a Mexican toddler whose family brought him to Texas for treatment.

According to the World Health Organization, 11 countries have officially reported 257 cases. Mexico, where the outbreak seems to have started, has reported 97 confirmed human cases, including seven deaths.

Swine flu, officially known as H1N1 influenza, produces symptoms similar to other strains of influenza: a moderate fevers, sore throat, body aches and exhaustion.

Chandler spokesman Terry Locke said county health officials instructed the district to follow their usual schedules, and so Tarwater’s students were released at 2:50 p.m. with Hartford’s final bell ringing 10 minutes later.

Unless otherwise notified by county health officials, classes will resume Friday, May 8. Also cancelled are extracurricular activities.

Hartford was to host, on Thursday night, a city-sponsored orientation session for a new program to turn foreclosed homes into affordable housing. “We’ll reschedule for a later time,” city spokeswoman Jane Poston said.

As far as cleaning the school, Locke said the district is waiting for some guidance from health officials about when that can take place. He added it will be done prior to the students’ return.

“I think the encouraging thing is, it’s showing up as a mild case of the flu,” Locke said.

Locke said the school also is asking the state Department of Education about the missed days of classes and whether the school years for Hartford and Tarwater will be extended.

Opps.... we are not going to die of swine flu this year, its NEXT year we will all die of swine flu (a new mutated deadly version)!!!!! Looks like the governmet nannies got it wrong, but they are assuring us that sooner or later they will be right.

Source

Medical experts cast doubt on the actual danger of swine flu

by Tony Pugh - May. 2, 2009 12:00 AM

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - More than a month into the swine-flu outbreak that has now affected 15 countries, medical experts are wondering aloud whether the contagious disease will ever become the pandemic that everyone fears.

With at least 141 infections now confirmed in 19 states, the H1N1 virus continues to spread via person-to-person transmission.

The overwhelming majority of new cases, however, have been mild and haven't required hospitalization. Only one death, that of a Mexican toddler, has occurred on U.S. soil. There have been 16 confirmed deaths in Mexico. As the disease migrates farther from its Mexican origins, where it's confirmed to have sickened 397 people and possibly many more, it hasn't yet packed the fatal punch that the world is bracing for.

That could change at any time because flu viruses are unpredictable and can mutate into a more dangerous strain in a short period.

The multitude of evidence thus far, however, suggests that the swine-flu virus won't follow the path of the 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions worldwide.

In fact, most experts still agree that President Barack Obama had it right when he said the outbreak is a cause for concern but not alarm.

"I've said from the very beginning that I thought this might not play out so severely," said Matthew Boulton, an epidemiology professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

In the aftermath of the anthrax attacks in 2001 and the more recent avian-flu scares, Boulton said the nation's public-health and security infrastructure "might be primed a bit for overresponse" to potential health threats.

For experts to compare the current outbreak to the 1918 pandemic is "pretty irresponsible" at this stage, Boulton said.

Boulton said it's "highly improbable" that the U.S. swine-flu death toll will even approach the estimated 36,000 Americans who die each year of seasonal flu.

Lee Harrison, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, agreed that preliminary data suggests the outbreak won't become a world pandemic, but he cautioned that the 1918 outbreak began as a mild form of influenza.

"It wasn't until it came back the following flu season that you really saw a real devastating pandemic in terms of death," Harrison said of the 1918 influenza. The second and third waves of the 1918 outbreak killed about 50 million people worldwide.

Harrison said that it will take more work and time to determine the mortality rate from the current outbreak but that "it does appear to be low and it doesn't appear to be in range with the 1918 pandemic."

"But again," Harrison added, "it's a rapidly evolving situation and, in 1918, it was the second wave that was particularly nasty."

Researchers at Northwestern and Indiana universities have developed separate computer models that both estimate, in a worst-case scenario, that about 1,700 new swine-flu infections will be confirmed in the U.S. over the next month.

Whether the current swine-flu scare mirrors the 1976 swine-flu outbreak at Fort Dix, N.J., remains unclear.

More than one-quarter of the population was vaccinated in the 1976 outbreak, although fewer than 300 confirmed cases were identified and only one death occurred before it petered out.

It was early reports of Mexican fatalities that prompted concern about the current virus. But those deaths may represent only a small percent of people who were actually infected with the disease, Boulton said.

Many more infections in Mexico may have gone unreported because patients had only mild symptoms that required no medical attention. Higher poverty rates and poor access to medical care may also have inflated the death toll, Boulton said.

Dr. Andrew Potter, director of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, said, however, that there's enough about the new virus to warrant preparation for the worst, particularly its propensity to attack young, healthy adults.

"Now, who knows whether that's simply a matter of them being the first ones exposed in that first wave. Who knows? But that's what's giving people at the World Health Organization and public-health officials around the world reason to think twice about this," Potter said.

Seasonal influenzas kill mostly infants, the elderly and people with immune deficiencies. Potter said it will take another week or so to really get a handle on how serious the swine-flu problem really is.

"You've got to be prudent because it very clearly is a threat. No question about it," Potter said. "Most of us are waiting for more data to give us more direction as to which way this thing is going to go."

The government nannies are using the alleged crisis to get money. Maricopa County Medical Director Bob England said "If we had more money, we could keep a lot of people from getting sick." - Which is a lie he is using to get money! Every other article I have read has said that the govenment and people in the medical field are powerless to prevent the spread of flu, normal flu or the alleged pandemic swine flu.

Another interesting quote in the article is that Maricopa County spends $13.64 for every person in the county. While the socialist lobby group "Trust for America's Health" says we should be spending $187 per capita for health care. Wow those doctors and medical employees want a big chuck of money out of our wallets.

Source

County health agency isn't crisis-ready

by Yvonne Wingett - May. 2, 2009 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health is chronically underfunded and unprepared for a full-fledged public-health emergency, its director says.

The swine-flu outbreak has tested the agency's ability to respond to a possible pandemic while keeping up with the day-to-day public-health issues critical to the community.

So far, the agency has kept up with trying to identify the H1N1 virus and interviewing people who may have come into contact with the disease. But officials said the health agency is stretched so thin, employees have been pulled from other work to react to the outbreak. Investigations of salmonella and other gastrointestinal diseases, for example, won't be fully followed until swine-flu slows.

It comes down to money, Director Bob England said.

The county this fiscal year spent about $13.64 on average per person on public health, according to health officials' figures. That's far less than the $187 per capita figure recommended by the national public-health advocacy organization Trust for America's Health, based in Washington, D.C.

As a result, England said, the county is not adequately prepared for emergencies; does not investigate and prevent diseases at levels that it should; and it does not coordinate as well as it could with community groups to prevent chronic diseases.

"We're applying minimal effort towards (public health)," England said. "If we had more money, we could keep a lot of people from getting sick."

On Monday, the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the emergency use of at least $100,000 to help the agency deal with the swine-flu outbreak.

Reprioritizing treatment

The Department of Public Health has one goal: Monitor and prevent health problems. Employees track infectious diseases, provide free childhood immunizations and educate the public on issues ranging from family planning to nutrition and safe sex.

Health officials screen public illnesses and treat diseases, such as sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis. If investigations of salmonella and other gastrointestinal diseases, for example, aren't followed up on, outbreaks can spread quickly.

The better public-health agencies are able to do their jobs, the less pressure it puts on the pocketbooks of residents and the health-care industry. And if health conditions are prevented or treated better on the front end, experts say, fewer wind up in hospital emergency rooms and doctors offices.

In cases such as the H1N1 outbreak, the county is on the frontline to coordinate the distribution of anti-flu medications and educate the public on ways to protect themselves.

Ron Klein is a nurse supervisor at the Public Health Department. His staff follows up with the public on diseases such as the measles, mumps and swine flu.

"When something like this (swine-flu outbreak) happens," Klein said, "the spread of disease is more likely to happen . . . because we're understaffed, and we've had to reprioritize."

Already, the agency has recruited 18 university student and faculty volunteers to help with epidemiology and investigations into the outbreak. If the situation worsens, health officials would consider using untrained workers.

Across the nation, local public-health departments have been underfunded for years and are reeling from budget cuts brought on by the recession, health experts say. "Because of the underfunding, that means Maricopa County cannot hire the public-health workers it needs to man vaccination clinics or go out and do an epidemiological surveillance," said Serena Vinter, a senior research associate with Trust for America's Health.

"When you are talking about a pandemic influenza, you really need those workers to do the legwork. The brunt of what gets done is carried out by local, and to a lesser degree, state health departments."

A 'pitiful' funding level

This fiscal year, Maricopa County's public-health budget was $55 million. Spending will likely decline to $49 million next year.

The county is the third-largest in the nation, with about 4 million residents. The county's budget is about $2.2 billion, and public-health funding is just a small part of that.

About a year ago, the agency had 557 employees; it is now down to 467 people and is expected to soon lose another six positions because of budget cuts needed to balance an anticipated $138.2 million hole in the county's fiscal 2009-10 budget.

The county already shut down a family-planning clinic in central Phoenix in April. It also trimmed programs that help moms with their first pregnancies, people living with HIV, tuberculosis and STDs, and those trying to quit smoking.

"We started off at such a pitiful (funding) level that we can't absorb the kinds of cuts that we are having and still function," England said.

With more money, England said, health officials would be able to immunize more children, prepare properly for an emergency, reduce deaths from influenza in the elderly and prevent the spread of STDs.

For example, the county now immunizes children with vaccines required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as polio shots. It once also provided the "recommended" vaccines, such as HPV, to all children.

In 2007, there were about 17,700 cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia throughout the county. Of those, health officials only made contact with 827 people to warn them they had exposure to the diseases and tell them to get treatment. The agency treated 683.

By 2010, health officials hope to have a plan in place to respond to a public-health emergency, and to better control communicable diseases by quickly investigating all reported cases of diseases, according to the department's mission.

Looks like that deadly swine flu was just a scare tactic by the government to get us to vote for more money for health services!

Source

State recommending schools closed by flu reopen

by Dennis Wagner - May. 2, 2009 01:36 PM

The Arizona Republic

Arizona health officials are recommending that schools no longer be closed after cases of swine flu are confirmed and are advising that schools that have closed be reopened.

Dr. Bob England, director of Maricopa County Department of Public Health, announced the recommendations Saturday, despite the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that schools be closed.

"Because current data does not suggest that this strain of H1N1 is behaving any differently than seasonal flu, I am recommending schools in Maricopa County no longer dismiss classes due to a confirmed case," England said. "I weighed this carefully and discussed the options with district school superintendents . . . if I dismissed schools every time we had an outbreak of seasonal flu, I would be closing schools all winter long," he said.

England said the advice to stay home when sick, wash hands, and cough into a tissue or sleeve still stands. But for now, H1N1 is not so virulent that it requires further preventive measures.

If the disease mutates or becomes more dangerous, then it will be reassessed, he said.

Three Arizona schools have closed - two in Chandler and one in Phoenix - because students tested positive for swine flu. Plans are to reopen those schools early next week.

The CDC, however, still is recommending that schools close after positive tests.

Source

Mexico criticizes repressive quarantines abroad

May. 4, 2009 06:47 AM

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Mexico chartered a plane on Monday to China to bring home 70 of its citizens who were seized at the airport and quarantined, declaring that the swine flu epidemic was no reason for "repressive and discriminatory measures."

Mexican officials also declared the epidemic to be waning, but medical experts worldwide said it was to early to make that call.

While Mexico began its first tentative steps toward normalcy, weighing whether to reopen businesses and schools, the virus spread to Colombia in the first confirmed case in South America, where flu season is about to begin. A New York City school that had closed after dozens of students were infected with the virus reopened Monday. More cases were confirmed in North America and Europe - including Portugal's first - with the total number sickened worldwide rising to more than a 1,000 people, according to health and government officials.

But with the scope of the disease unknown, several countries have taken urgent measures against arriving Mexicans or those who have recently traveled to Mexico. In China, more than 70 Mexican travelers were quarantined in hospitals and hotels, and Mexicans on arriving flights were taken into isolation, said Mexico's ambassador, Jorge Guajardo. Even the Mexican consul in Guangzhou was briefly held after returning from a vacation in Cambodia.

And in Hong Kong, 350 people remained isolated Monday in a hotel after a Mexican traveler there was determined to have swine flu.

One guest, Briton Mark Moore, complained that he had not shown symptoms and urged the government to lift the quarantine.

"The government is trying to show the world they are strong in organizing this," the 37-year-old Singapore-based company director said in a phone interview. "I need to be in Singapore now. I have loads of things to do."

Mexican President Felipe Calderon complained of the backlash against Mexicans abroad.

"I think it's unfair that because we have been honest and transparent with the world some countries and places are taking repressive and discriminatory measures because of ignorance and disinformation," Calderon said. "There are always people who are seizing on this pretext to assault Mexicans, even just verbally."

The president did not single out any country. But the Foreign Relations Department said afterward that Mexico was sending a chartered jet Monday to bring back any citizens who wanted to leave China.

China's Foreign Ministry denied it was discriminating against Mexicans.

But the Mexican Embassy in Beijing sent a circular out to all its citizens saying China had imposed "measures of unjustified isolation" in response to swine flu and urging trips there to be canceled or postponed.

"The imposition of measures which restrict freedom of movement such as quarantine and other forms of forced isolation by health authorities in other countries are not compatible" with norms on human rights, according to a document seen by The Associated Press.

The Mexican president said a nationwide shutdown and an aggressive information campaign appeared to have helped curtail the outbreak there.

"We have succeeded in detaining or at least slowing the spread of the virus precisely because the measures have been the correct ones," Calderon said in an interview with state television broadcast Sunday night.

Mexico's health chief said officials will decide Monday whether to reopen businesses and schools or extend the shutdown that has helped choke off the spread of swine flu but caused untold harm to the country's economy.

The reopening "will not happen just like that," Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said at a news conference. "There will have to be training, preparations for teachers and parents."

Possible recommendations would be that there be a 2-meter (6.5-foot) distance kept between people in restaurants or theaters and that workers wear masks on the subway.

The World Health Organization said Mexico had 590 cases of swine flu and 25 deaths from the virus. Cordova said the last confirmed death was April 29 and the illness apparently peaked in Mexico between April 23 and April 28.

Health officials raised the number of confirmed U.S. swine flu cases to 245 in 35 states late Sunday. The new number reflects streamlining in federal procedures and the results of tests by states, which have only recently begun confirming cases, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC's acting chief, Dr. Richard Besser, said swine flu is spreading just as easily as regular winter flu.

"The good news is when we look at this virus right now, we're not seeing some of the things in the virus that have been associated in the past with more severe flu," Besser said. "That's encouraging, but it doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet."

In Alberta, Canada, officials quarantined about 220 pigs infected by a worker who recently returned from Mexico. It was the first documented case of the H1N1 virus being passed from a human to another species. Canada stressed that pigs often get the flu and there is no danger in eating pork.

Cordova presented the most comprehensive description yet of the dead in Mexico.

He said 15 were female and seven were men. One possible explanation could be that women get poorer health care in Mexico because of its male-dominated culture, he said. Cordova also said only 4 percent were unemployed; the rest either had jobs or were housewives and students. More than 50 percent had not graduated from high school and only 11 percent had university education.

Pablo Kuri, an epidemiologist advising Cordova, told The Associated Press that tests have confirmed a swine flu death in Mexico City on April 11, two days earlier than what had been believed to be the first death.

Kuri also said there were no deaths among health care workers treating swine flu patients in Mexico, an indication that the virus may not be as contagious or virulent as initially feared.

Source

Mexicans arrive home to country emerging from flu

May. 6, 2009 07:02 AM

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Dozens of Mexican nationals who were quarantined at hospitals and hotels in China despite showing no symptoms of swine flu arrived home early Wednesday on a government-chartered jet.

First lady Margarita Zavala and officials from the Foreign Relations Department greeted the passengers as they deplaned the Aeromexico flight at Mexico City's international airport. Authorities did not say exactly how many were on the plane but estimated the number at about 140.

"I'm very happy to be back in Mexico," passenger Oscar Fernandez told reporters. "We were in quarantine for four days in Guanghzou but they treated us very well." Fellow passenger Daniel Charnitsky concurred with Fernandez that they had not been mistreated, and added that all the passengers "are happy to be back."

Mexico has criticized the quarantine as unfair and discriminatory. Of the 71 Mexicans held at hospitals and hotels in China, Mexican diplomats say none had swine flu symptoms.

China has defended its measures to block the swine flu virus from entering the world's most- populous nation.

But Lin Ji, deputy director of the general office of the Jilin provincial health department in China, said the government had decided to lift a quarantine for a group of Canadian students two days early, following pressure from Canada's government.

He added, however, that the government would continue its strident checks on travelers from swine flu-hit regions.

"China's large cities have a very high demographic density," the Chinese Embassy in Mexico said in a statement reported late Tuesday night on the Web site of the Mexican newspaper El Universal. "In addition, the public health system in China is far from being perfect. If the virus shows up among our population, the consequences could be catastrophic."

The Mexican travelers returned to a capital that has begun emerging from a government-ordered lockdown designed to contain the spread of the virus that has caused 31 deaths in Mexico and the U.S. and sickened nearly 1,900 in 21 countries.

On Tuesday, a day before stores, restaurants and factories were officially being allowed to reopen, Mexico City started to show its usual ebullience. Thousands of newspaper vendors, salesmen hawking trinkets and even panhandlers dropped their protective masks and joined the familiar din of traffic horns and blaring music. Some shops opened early.

"We have a lot of confidence nothing is going to happen," said Irineo Moreno Gonzales, 54, a security guard who limited takeout customers to four at a time at a usually crowded downtown Starbucks on Tuesday. "Mexicans have the same spirit we've always had. We're ready to move forward."

There were still signs, however, of the virus that has set off world health alarms. A Texas woman who lived near a popular border crossing was confirmed as the first U.S. resident and the second person outside Mexico to die after contracting swine flu. Mexico's Health Department announced three more confirmed deaths, raising the country's total to 29.

The Texas woman, the second confirmed person to die with swine flu in the U.S., lived not far from the Mexico border and had chronic medical conditions, as did the Mexico City toddler who died of swine flu last week during a visit to Houston, Texas, health officials said.

The 33-year-old woman was pregnant and delivered a healthy baby while hospitalized, said Leonel Lopez, Cameron County epidemiologist. She was a teacher in the Mercedes Independent School District, which announced it would close its schools until Monday.

Mexico's government imposed the five-day shutdown to curb the flu's spread, especially in this metropolis of 20 million where the outbreak sickened the most people. Capital residents overwhelmingly complied - other towns less - and officials cautiously hailed the drastic experiment as a success.

Still, many more pedestrians were out Tuesday, the shutdown's final day. Many wore protective masks, but many didn't, as they dodged the familiar green-and-white VW taxis cruising for fares and noisy trucks bearing bottled water.

Some officials cautioned against a rush back toward normalcy.

"The scientists are saying that we really need to evaluate more," said Dr. Ethel Palacios, deputy director of the swine flu monitoring effort in Mexico City. "In terms of how the virus is going to behave, we are keeping every possibility in mind. ... We can't make a prediction of what's going to happen."

But Palacios said it is a delicate process trying to balance the public's health and its economic welfare. "One of most the important things is that you need to know that these measures do have an impact not only on health but also on other aspects of life and society," she said.

The World Health Organization said it was shipping 2.4 million treatments of anti-flu drugs to 72 countries "most in need," and France sent 100,000 doses worth $1.7 million to Mexico.

Mexican Finance Secretary Agustin Carstens unveiled plans Tuesday to stimulate key industries and fight foreign bans on Mexican pork products. He said persuading tourists to come back is a top priority.

Carstens said the outbreak cost Mexico's economy at least $2.2 billion, and he announced a $1.3 billion stimulus package, mostly for tourism and small businesses, the sectors hardest hit by the epidemic. Mexico will temporarily reduce taxes for airlines and cruise ships and cut health insurance payments for small businesses.

In China, the group of 25 Canadian students and their professor who had been under observation at a hotel in the northeastern city of Changchun since the weekend will be released Wednesday instead of Friday because they were healthy, Ji said.

Meanwhile, 34 passengers who were on a flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong with a Mexican swine flu patient on April 30 will be released from quarantine Thursday, Hong Kong's Secretary for Food and Health York Chow told reporters. He said they will be offered two nights' extra hotel accommodation paid by the Hong Kong government. The nationalities of the passengers wasn't immediately clear.

Doctors are still running tests on the Mexican patient to see how infectious he is and he won't be released immediately, Chow said. He said the patient is in stable condition.

In other parts of the world Wednesday, Swedish authorities confirmed the Scandinavian country's first case of swine flu. The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control said that a woman who recently visited the United States tested positive for the virus. It said the woman, who is in her 50s, has now recovered from the flu.

Besides the more than 70 Mexican nationals flying home from China, about 20 Chinese businessmen and students, each wearing surgical masks, left the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Tuesday on a Chinese government flight after being stranded when China canceled all direct flights to Mexico.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he will ask governments to reverse trade and travel restrictions lacking a clear scientific basis.

Dr. David Nabarro, senior U.N. coordinator for influenza, said countries must explain to WHO their rationale for such measures, and that their effectiveness is likely minimal at best.

"We want to be very clear that the World Health Organization is not recommending travel restrictions related to the outbreak of this novel influenza," Nabarro said.

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Mexico opens for business under strict rules

By Sergio Solache Special to USA TODAY

MEXICO CITY — So much for date night. Most businesses in Mexico reopened Wednesday after being closed for five days because of the swine flu outbreak, but they faced a complex — and, to some people, utterly bewildering — set of new health restrictions, including a mandatory two empty seats between people at movie theaters.

Among other temporary rules designed to prevent the flu epidemic, which has eased in recent days, from flaring back up:

• Waiters at restaurants are forbidden from wearing ties, which the city government called a "reservoir for germs."

• People leaving theaters or cinemas must do so in organized stages while keeping a space of "at least two steps" between them.

• Restaurants in Mexico City must operate at no more than 50% capacity, not offer buffet service, and disinfect menus and salsa trays between servings.

JoséÁngel Ávila, interior minister for Mexico City, said inspectors will visit businesses, and violators will face fines of up to $2,100 and possible closure.

Mexico's government has earned plaudits from the World Health Organization for its rapid and transparent response to the swine flu epidemic, which has killed far more people here than in any other country. The death toll from the outbreak rose on Wednesday to 42, though Health Secretary JoséÁngel Córdova said the increase was due mostly to new test results from people who died weeks ago.

Cafes and bars remained closed indefinitely in the capital, the outbreak's ground zero, and primary schools nationwide are not due to reopen until Monday. President Felipe Calderón said continued vigilance is necessary to prevent another wave of deaths. "It's not time to claim victory and say, 'It's over,' " he said on a visit to a hospital.

Some business owners accused the government of overreacting and questioned the science behind the new restrictions.

The measures "are very exaggerated," said Víctor León, manager of the Bella Lula restaurant in Mexico City. Just two lonely diners sat in the dining room — capacity 120 — during peak lunch hour Wednesday.

Half the tables at the Bella Lula were marked with a sign that said: "By order of the government, this table is out of service. Thanks for your understanding."

"The government has done a bad job handling information," León said. "You don't get sick from food or drinks — it's from physical contact. If you just follow basic health measures, you won't get the virus."

Victor Sanchez, director of marketing research for Cinemark in Mexico, which has 30 movie theater complexes nationwide, was similarly vexed. He said the restrictions, which mandate two empty rows of seats between each occupied row, mean theaters can operate at no more than 16% of capacity.

"That's not profitable for any business," he said.

"Let's say that a father, mother and two children come in the same car … and now they're saying that, when they get to the theater, they have to spread out?" Sanchez said. "It's ridiculous."

A spokesman at Mexico's health ministry declined to comment.

The only two customers at the Bella Lula didn't seem bothered by the rules, though. "It seems fine," said Daniel Rangel, 41, an office worker. "Maybe it'll help a little to keep us from getting sick."

Eurídice Benítez, 48, a secretary, nodded her head. "It's just for a little while, that's all," she said.

HEALTH RESTRICTIONS

Here is a partial list of health restrictions ordered by the Mexican government to stop the spread of swine flu. Some rules are for Mexico City only.

Restaurants

Customers must be asked to wash their hands with soap or anti-bacterial gel upon entering.

All staff must wear face masks and wash hands at least once an hour.

Pamphlets must be placed in a visible space with information on hygiene and flu prevention.

Waiters must not wear jewelry or share pens or markers.

Establishments with air conditioning must maintain a temperature of 72 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Public transport

Buses and subways must provide disposable tissues and plastic bags.

Surfaces including windows, seats, gearshifts and steering wheels must be washed with soap or industrial-strength cleanser twice a day.

Theaters or auditoriums

Customers must be checked for flu symptoms upon entry.

While being evaluated, customers must form a single-file line and stand an arm's length apart.

Once inside, customers must keep a distance of 2.25 meters, or almost 7 feet, from each other

Miguel Sanchez was not totally convinced that swine flu existed. - "To me, it only exists in the mind of President Felipe Calderon and the WHO. It is a vile lie"

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Mexico's schools cleaned, ready to resume classes

May. 11, 2009 06:48 AM

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Scoured and disinfected, most of Mexico's primary schools and kindergartens stood ready to welcome back millions of students Monday after a nationwide shutdown ordered to help put a brake on the spread of swine flu.

China, meanwhile, was ramping up efforts to control the disease after a Chinese man who had been studying at the University of Missouri became the mainland's first confirmed swine flu case.

Health authorities scrambled to find and quarantine more than 200 people who accompanied him on a flight to China, transmitting messages by radio, television and telephone text asking the passengers to contact officials.

Six of Mexico's 31 states put off reopening schools for a week amid a rise in suspected flu cases in some regions, and a seventh ordered a one-day delay. Some parents were worried about sending their children back so soon.

While Mexicans are feeling a little more relaxed, the swine flu outbreak is continuing to spread around the globe, with international health authorities reporting more than 4,500 confirmed cases in 29 nations. There are 53 deaths tied to the virus - 48 in Mexico, three in the U.S., one in Canada and one in Costa Rica.

The United States now has the most confirmed cases - 2,532 in 44 states, more than 900 ahead of Mexico's total, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday.

In Mexico, crews worked through the weekend to cleanse school buildings and make sure they were stocked with sanitary supplies as 25 million children prepared to resume their studies after a two-week break that began when authorities ordered schools closed in the Mexico City region on April 24 and then the whole country three days later.

"We have cleaned the windows, classrooms, blackboards, floors, bathrooms, everything," Flor Carpio, whose husband is the custodian at Mexico City's Horacio Mann grade school, said Sunday.

At the Rosaura Zapati day care center in central Mexico City, Miguel Sanchez cleaned a staircase with bleach even though he was not totally convinced that swine flu existed.

"To me, it only exists in the mind of (President Felipe) Calderon and the WHO. It is a vile lie," said Sanchez, the center's caretaker.

The federal Education Department said Sunday that 88.9 percent of the nation's estimated 250,000 schools had been cleaned and disinfected.

A day earlier, Secretary of Public Education Alonso Lujambio urged parents not to send their children back to school if they were sick and told teachers to be on guard for possible swine flu cases.

"School life will return to normal as long as the safeguards we have put in place are effective. Help us in this," Lujambio said.

His department said Sunday that groups of teachers and parents would be waiting at entrances to identify any students who show up with flu symptoms. Any who do will be sent back home, but "without stigmatizing the children or violating their rights," it said.

Mexican health officials say swine flu has been confirmed in 1,626 people, of whom 48 have died. Suspected cases were reported after those numbers were released Saturday, but the government offered no new count on confirmed cases Sunday.

Because of the new suspected cases, the states of Jalisco, Hidalgo, Guerrero, San Luis Potosi, Chiapas and Zacatecas postponed the resumption of classes until May 18. Michoacan said its schools would reopen Tuesday. Some towns in Nayarit also kept students home.

High schools and universities restarted last Thursday.

The reopening of kindergartens and primary schools is the latest step in Mexico's efforts to restore a sense of normality after the flu scare. Businesses, restaurants and bars gradually resumed operations over the past week, and except for public servants and restaurant workers, it is less and less common to see people wearing surgical masks.

The blow to tourism and production has been severe, however. Mexico's Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa told the Spanish daily ABC that the crisis could cost her country 1 percent of gross domestic product this year.

While Mexico's schools were getting their last-minute sprucing up Sunday, the government ratcheted up complaints about China's treatment of Mexican citizens because of the swine flu outbreak

Officials said the country would not participate in a Shanghai trade fair May 19-21 as planned because China had withdrawn Mexico's "guest of honor" status. Thirty Mexican companies had been scheduled to take part.

Mexican officials were already angry over China's quarantining of dozens of Mexican travelers, airline flight cancellations and a ban on its pork products - moves that were part of a wider series of snubs by many nations that has left Mexico feeling unfairly singled out.

China has defended the steps as necessary to keep swine flu out of the world's most populous nation.

Mexico said Sunday that 13 Mexicans remained in quarantine in China and one in Singapore. Last week Mexico chartered a flight to bring home dozens of its citizens from China. It was unclear if the 14 mentioned Sunday had been placed under restrictions in China since the first group was brought home.

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