Swine Flu Watch: “Experts warned in February…”
>>Swine flu: Experts warned in February that new strain could cause pandemic
In February, scientists at the International Meeting on Emerging Disease and Surveillance in Vienna, Austria, said so much attention had been focused on H5N1 that the medical and scientific community risked missing the start of an outbreak caused by another strain.
Prof Thomas Monath from Harvard University said that another strain could trigger a pandemic and then “we would be screwed”.
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Prof Monath said: “If it’s a new strain of flu it will be nine months to a year before we have got really good geared up vaccine production. We will rely on antiviral drugs first and then it is a crash effort to make a vaccine. In the meantime there will be clearly an emerging uncontained problem,” he said.
“To detect it early and try to contain it in the early stages is the best chance we have got,” Prof Monath added.
Other experts at the meeting also believed the scientific community was “betting on the wrong horse” by continuing to focus solely on H5N1.
Full Article: here.
>>WHO raises pandemic alert level to 4
The World Health Organisation raised its pandemic alert level over the deadly swine flu virus to phase 4 on Monday, indicating the infection could spread between humans to cause “community-level outbreaks”.
Experts held four hours of emergency talks on whether to raise the alert level from phase 3 due to the outbreak which has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and spread to the United States, Canada and Europe.
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The scale of alert levels goes from 1 to 6. The system was set at phase 3 in 2005 when WHO introduced it to monitor bird flu. The pandemic alert level has never before been raised.
In a statement, the Geneva-based United Nations agency said that “containment of the outbreak is not feasible. The current focus should be on mitigation measures”.
Full Article: here.
>>Swine flu outbreak reaches Europe
The first cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Europe.
Two British people admitted to hospital in Scotland after returning from a holiday in Mexico have been confirmed as having the virus.
In Spain, a man has tested positive for swine flu and 17 other people are under investigation, officials said.
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Besides Mexico, the UK and Spain, there have also been confirmed cases in the US and Canada. Suspected cases are being investigated in Brazil, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.
Full Article: here
>>World Bank ready to raise funding for swine flu
The World Bank is ready to increase funding to Mexico and any other developing country around the world to deal with swine flu, a senior Bank official said on Monday.
In an interview with Reuters, Keith Hansen, health sector manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, said experience with previous illnesses shows that countries should act as early as possible to prepare for the flu’s possible spread.
“We put in place a funding facility for avian flu a few years ago and it is broadly defined so it can encompass this flu, and if need be the bank is fully prepared to add money to that facility for Mexico and for any other countries that may be affected,” Hansen said.
Full Article: here.
>>Key Posts Remain Vacant as Untested Pandemic Response Plan Implemented
As they confront the growing swine flu crisis, President Obama’s administration is attempting to implement a never-before-tested pandemic response plan while dozens of key public health and emergency response jobs in the administration remain vacant.
The president has yet to fill 15 top positions at the health department or name a full-time director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and five more nominations…
The top post at the CDC remains open but is being filled by an acting director. And at the Department of Homeland Security, which is leading the federal government’s response to the swine flu outbreak, the functions of nearly 20 senior-level posts are being temporarily performed by career civil service employees.
Full Article: here.
Tags: news round-up, swine flu
