WHO orders emergency meeting over deadly flu
Never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses kills up to 68
MEXICO CITY - The World Health Organization ordered an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss a deadly swine flu strain outbreak in Mexico and the United States.
Margaret Chan, the global body's director general, broke off a visit to Washington to return to Geneva to oversee the agency's handling of the outbreak.
Chan called the "virtual meeting" that will link public health authorities and experts in various parts of the world "to seek their advice and guidance," WHO spokesman Fadela Chaib told Reuters.
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The new flu strain has killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected 8 in the United States.
The experts will not necessarily issue firm recommendations on Saturday. Once more details are clear about the virus and its risks, the emergency panel could recommend a change in the WHO's pandemic alert level — currently at 3 on a scale of 1 to 6 — or recommend travel advisories to control the flu's spread.
Mexico shut schools and museums and axed public events. Authorities in the country's capital also urged people to stay home if they feel sick and to avoid shaking hands or kissing people on the cheeks.
The World Health Organization said the virus from 12 of the Mexican patients was the same genetically as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas who later recovered.
The Mexican government said the flu had killed 20 people and it may also be responsible for 48 other deaths. In all, 1,004 suspected cases have been reported nationwide.
Genetic analysis shows the flu strain is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses.
Face masks
The fact most of the dead were aged between 25 and 45 was seen as a worrying sign linked to pandemics, as seasonal flu tends to be more deadly among the elderly and the very young.
Speaking on the evening television news, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova encouraged people in Mexico to avoid crowds and wear face masks, noting there was no guarantee that going to get a flu vaccine would help against the new strain.
He said the death rate appeared to have steadied and hospitals in the past few days had not seen the exponential rise in the number of people infected that many had feared.
"We realize the seriousness of this problem," Mexican President Felipe Calderon told health officials on Friday.
In California, Dr. Gil Chavez, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the California Department of Public Health and the state's chief epidemiologist, said many more cases could come to light as patients are tested. "The more we look the more we are likely to find," he said.
New York City health officials said that testing was under way on 75 students at a Queens high school who have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms.
The Health Department's Dr. Don Weiss said Friday that agency doctors and investigators were dispatched to the private St. Francis Preparatory School the previous day after students reported fever, sore throat, cough, aches and pains. No one has been hospitalized. Results could take several days.
The U.S. government said it was taking the situation seriously and monitoring for any new developments.
As far away as Hong Kong — the epicenter of the 2003 SARS epidemic and especially vigilant to any threat of infectious disease — the government's Center for Health Protection said it was closely monitoring investigations in the United States and would analyze flu samples in the territory.
Cordova said Mexico had 1 million doses of antiviral medicine, easily enough to treat the cases reported so far.
In Mexico City, a crowded metropolis of 20 million people, soldiers handed out surgical masks and the government warned people to avoid close physical contact and sharing food.
Finnish rock band The Rasmus canceled a Mexico City concert and the Mexican Football Federation said two weekend soccer matches would be played with no spectators present as a precaution.
DVD rental stores said customers poured in to rent movies on Friday night so they could huddle inside for the weekend.
The last flu pandemic was in 1968 when "Hong Kong" flu killed about a million people globally.
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