Friday, April 24, 2009

Swine-Bird Flu

Via an unnamed source: The BBC reports on a rash of deaths in Mexico from a new strain of flu with both swine and bird elements.

Fifty-seven people had died in Mexico City from flu-like symptoms, [WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib] said, and another three in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico. There are around 800 suspected cases, she said.
Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the virus had "mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans".
The strain of flu had been confirmed in at least 16 deaths, with 44 others being tested, the government said.
It urged people to take preventative measures such as not shaking hands or sharing crockery.
In the US, experts say the seven people who fell ill across two states were suffering from a new form of swine flu that combined pig, bird and human viruses.
"This is the first time that we've seen an avian strain, two swine strains and a human strain," Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the CDC, told AFP.
The CDC said none of the seven victims had been in contact with pigs, which is how people usually catch swine flu.

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