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WHO warns swine flu threatening to become pandemic
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-30 08:03 MEXICO CITY -- Global health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread farther in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. A toddler who succumbed in Texas became the first death outside Mexico. New cases and deaths finally seemed to be leveling off in Mexico, where 160 people have been killed, after an aggressive public health campaign. But the World Health Organization said the global threat is nevertheless serious enough to ramp up efforts to produce a vaccine against the virus.
It was the first time the WHO had declared a Phase 5 outbreak, the second-highest on its threat scale, indicating a pandemic could be imminent. The first US death from the outbreak was a Mexico City toddler who traveled to Texas with family and died Monday night at a Houston hospital. US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius predicted the child would not be the last US death from swine flu.
"Every American should know that the federal government is prepared to do whatever is necessary to control the impact of this virus," Obama said, highlighting his request for $1.5 billion in emergency funding for vaccines.
Ecuador joined Cuba and Argentina in banning travel either to or from Mexico, and other nations considered similar bans. 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.
Germany and Austria became the latest countries to report swine flu infections Wednesday, with cases already confirmed in Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain. In addition to the 160 deaths, the virus is believed to have sickened 2,498 people across Mexico. But only 1,311 suspected swine flu patients remained hospitalized, and a closer look at daily admissions and deaths at Mexico's public hospitals suggests the outbreak may have peaked during three grim days last week when thousands of people complained of flu symptoms. 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. Unlike with bird flu, doctors have no evidence suggesting a direct pig-to-human infection from this strain, which is why they haven't recommended killing pigs. Medical detectives have not zeroed in on where the outbreak began. Mexico's chief epidemiologist suggested Wednesday that someone could have carried it in from Pakistan or Bangladesh -- or just about anywhere else in the world. |
