Although no pigs have become ill and no patients have reported contact with pigs, the new swine/avian/human influenza mix coming out of Mexico has been dubbed "swine flu." Since Mexican health officials first admitted the problem on Thursday, swine flu has been detected in California, Texas, Kansas, New York City, and Nova Scotia. Suspected cases are currently under investigation in British Columbia, France, Spain, Israel, and New Zealand, mainly in tourists returning from Mexico. No fatalities have been reported outside of Mexico (where the case count now stands at approximately 1500 with over 80 fatalities).
The
Associated Press reports that the WHO has declared the outbreak in North America to be a "public health emergency" with "pandemic potential."
The
CDC has a page up summarizing the current investigation.
A ProMED poster notes that like this one, the Spanish Flu first appeared at the end of the flu season, but came back with a vengeance for the next one:
The 1st cases of that agent showed up in May 1918 in an army base in Kansas -- it went quiet over the summer -- and started ravaging the globe in early fall that year.
Also, someone is maintaining a
Google map of the outbreak.
No comments:
Post a Comment