Swine Flu Watch: 7 more cases in Canada
>>7 more swine flu cases confirmed in Canada, all mild
The number of Canadians confirmed to have suffered mild cases of the human form of swine flu swelled to 13 on Tuesday, with new cases reported in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.
The new cases in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia were anticipated, and do not change the federal government’s course of action…
The four cases, which were the first to be confirmed in Ontario since the disease spread outside Mexico, were all mild and involved people who had travelled to Mexico recently. Two were from the York region, north of Toronto, and the other two were from the Durham region, east of Toronto.
Full Article: here.
>>Obama seeks $1.5 bln for swine flu as cases jump
President Barack Obama asked Congress on Tuesday for an additional $1.5 billion (1 billion pounds) to fight swine flu as the confirmed U.S. caseload jumped to 65 people in six states in what doctors fear may become a full pandemic.
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Obama, in a letter to Congress, said the $1.5 billion would give the government “maximum flexibility” as it fights the disease, supplementing antiviral stockpiles, adding medical equipment and starting preparations for a vaccine.
Full Article: here.
>>The Naming of Swine Flu, a Curious Matter
What to call the new strain of flu raising alarms around the world has taken on political, economic and diplomatic overtones.
Pork producers question whether the term “swine flu” is appropriate, given that the new virus has not yet been isolated in samples taken from pigs in Mexico or elsewhere.
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Government officials in Thailand, one of the world’s largest meat exporters, have started referring to the disease as “Mexican flu.” An Israeli deputy health minister — an ultra-Orthodox Jew — said his country would do the same, to keep Jews from having to say the word “swine.”
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This is not a food-borne illness, virus — it is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that’s not what this is about,” Mr. Vilsack said.
Full Article: here.
Tags: news round-up, swine flu
