| Article Index |
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| Swine flu pandemic paralyzes Mexico, spreads to the US |
| CDC: Human Swine Influenza Investigation |
| WHO: Influenza-like illness in the United States and Mexico |
| All Pages |
The anomalous surge of deadly cases of influenza (flu) late in the flu season prompted Mexican government officials to close schools and many public events. As of Friday 24 April 2009, official World Health Organization (WHO) report indicated more than 854 cases with 59 fatalities, and increasing. The US Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed eight cases in the border states, California (6) and Texas (2), in the United States.
More recent reports by the New York Times estimated 68 deaths among at least 1,000 cases infected with the deadly swine flu virus.
Vaccination. Unlike the common cold virus, or HIV with still no known cure, there is are combination vaccines to mitigate the impact of flu infection. However, the flu viruses, like many viruses, mutate rapidly resulting into many influenza strains.
Mystery. Usually, the swine flu virus is transmitted from animals, like swine or fowls, to humans. The epidemic in Mexico indicates direct person to human person. This make the epidemic more serious because there is no vaccine so far to combant the epidemic.
While still unconfirmed to be caused by the human swine flu virus, reports from the New York Times, and other mass media indicate flu incidence in cities including New York.
Selected Links:
Influenza-like illness in the United States and Mexico, WHO, 20090424
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_04_24/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/
Human Swine Influenza Investigation, CDC, 20090425
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/investigation.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/
Mexico flu 'a potential pandemic', BBC News, 20090425
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8018356.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
Mexico May Isolate Patients With Deadly Swine Flu Strain, NYT, 20090425
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/world/americas/26mexico.html
http://www.nytimes.com/