Swine flu, bird flu, bovine flu, I'm all flued out
By: serenebeauty (28 April 2009)
European leaders sought to downplay the threat of a major outbreak on the continent, saying they were well prepared -- but a top Russia expert warned that the risk of a global pandemic was "very high."
"We have been prepared for this kind of scenario for many years," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took part in a meeting of his government's COBRA crisis cell on the fast-moving global health scare.
"Swine flu is an international problem now, it's crossed two continents, it's got to be dealt with by international agreements," Brown told reporters in the Polish capital.
The comments came after a British honeymoon couple returning from the Mexican resort of Cancun, named by media as Iain and Dawn Askham, were confirmed as suffering from swine flu on Monday.
On Tuesday Scottish authorities said their recovery was continuing, while adding that nine out of 22 people they have been in contact with are showing "mild, cold-like" symptoms, and another 14 cases are being investigated.
Spain confirmed a second case Tuesday in the eastern city of Valencia, after recording Monday the first case outside the Americas of the disease that first emerged in Mexico.
Health authorities across Europe tested dozens of people suspected of having the virus, including in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland.
In London, the West Middlesex Hospital said it had isolated a woman suspected as having the disease.
"She was exhibiting flu-like symptoms. She'd recently visited Mexico so obviously we're treating it quite seriously," said a spokeswoman. "She's been... isolated and we're just waiting for test results," expected on Wednesday.
The World Health Organization on Monday raised its flu pandemic alert level from three to four, signalling a "significant increase in risk of a pandemic" under its criteria.
On Tuesday a senior WHO official, Keiji Fukuda, said it was "critical" to identify travellers from Mexico who might be infected with swine flu in order to monitor the spread of the virus.
France became the latest European government Tuesday to warn its nationals against travel to Mexico, following similar warnings from Britain and the Czech Republic.
Two British travel firms, Thomas Cook and Thomson with its sister company First Choice, cancelled flights to the popular Mexican resort of Cancun, after leading German group TUI cancelled trips to Mexico City Monday until May 5.
But EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said she saw no need to place restrictions on travel, while noting that EU health ministers would take up the matter on Thursday.
"Precautionary measures are advisable but at this juncture I don't see any point on restricting travelling, although I understand that the United States of America have issued restrictions on travelling to Mexico," she said.
In Moscow, a top Russian virologist warned there was a real risk of a global swine flu pandemic.
"The risk of a pandemic in the world is very high. It could reach Russia in a week," said the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Virology, Dmitry Lvov.
In other measures several Balkan countries -- Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia -- moved to ban pork imports from the Americas.
This is new take on the Mexican wave- spreading across the world.
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Comments on this post:
"Thanks for this. I am totally indenial about the whole thing, although watching Sky news' propoganda news so-called news today, one would never leave the house! Fact - we will all die some day."
tmhogirl (30 April 2009)
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"Have you wondered why there seems to be no reported cases in Asia and Africa. You might say it's the media with all the propopganda. I think this is a flu virus that has decided that it will affect indiscriminately or is it really that clever. "
serenebeauty (01 May 2009)
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