World health officials race to stem deadly flu

World health officials today raced to extinguish a new flu strain that has already spread to five countries and is jumping borders.

A worldwide global alert was raised to an unprecedented level as the outbreak claimed more lives in Mexico.

The US prepared for the worst even as President Barack Obama tried to reassure Americans, and authorities around the globe struggled like firefighters battling a blaze without knowing how far it extends.

“At this time, containment is not a feasible option,” said Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which raised its alert level yesterday.

At the White House, a swine flu update was added to President Obama’s daily intelligence briefing.

Mr Obama said the outbreak is “not a cause for alarm,” even as the US stepped up checks of people entering the country and warned US citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico.

“We are proceeding as if we are preparatory to a full pandemic,” said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The European Union health commissioner suggested that Europeans avoid nonessential travel both to Mexico and parts of the United States affected by the flu.

Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said they would quarantine visitors showing symptoms of the virus.

World stock markets fell sharply today as investors worried that any swine flu pandemic could derail a global economic recovery. Stocks of airlines, hotels and other travel-related companies already posted sharp losses yesterday.

Mexico, where the number of deaths believed to have been caused by swine flu rose yesterday to 152, is suspected to be ground zero of the outbreak.

But Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova last night said no one knows where the outbreak began, and implied it may have started in the US

“I think it is very risky to say, or want to say, what the point of origin or dissemination of it is, given that there had already been cases reported in southern California and Texas,” Mr Cordova told a press conference.

It’s still not clear when the first case occurred, making it impossible thus far to determine where the breakout started.

Dr Nancy Cox of the Atlanta-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has said she believes the earliest onset of swine flu in the United States happened on March 28.

Mr Cordova said a sample taken from a four-year-old boy in Mexico’s Veracruz state in early April tested positive for swine flu. However, it is not known when the boy, who later recovered, became infected.

The World Health Organisation raised the alert level to Phase 4, meaning there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus causing outbreaks in at least one country. Yesterday was the first time it has ever been raised above Phase 3.

Putting an alert at Phases 4 or 5 signals that the virus is becoming increasingly adept at spreading among humans. Phase 6 is for a full-blown pandemic, characterised by outbreaks in at least two regions of the world.

Fifty cases – none fatal and most of them mild – were confirmed in the United States by the CDC.

Worldwide there were 79 confirmed cases, including six in Canada, one in Spain and two in Scotland.

Twenty-six other cases are suspected in Spain, 13 in New Zealand, and one each in France, Israel and Switzerland.

Symptoms include a fever of more than 100, coughing, joint aches, severe headache and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Amid the alarm, there was a spot of good news. The number of new cases reported by Mexico’s largest government hospitals has been declining the past three days, Mr Cordova said, from 141 on Saturday to 119 on Sunday and 110 yesterday.

In a bid to prevent mass contagion, Mexico cancelled school nationwide until May 6, and the Mexico City government is considering a complete shutdown, including all public transportation.

The Cinco de Mayo parade celebrating Mexico’s defeat of a French army on May 5, 1862 and Mexico City’s traditional May 1 parade have been cancelled. More than 100 museums nationwide were closed.

At Mexico City’s international airport, families grimly waited for flights out of the capital or country, determined to keep their masks on until they touched ground somewhere else.

Three games involving Mexico City football clubs were played with no spectators over the weekend.

Decio de Maria, secretary general of the Mexican soccer federation, said plans for future matches would be announced tomorrow.

“The idea is to look for the fewest number of games that have to be played behind closed doors,” he said.

“If it’s necessary, we’ll play all the matches behind closed doors. We don’t foresee cancelling any games.”

Many residents of Mexico City wore blue surgical masks, even though the CDC said most masks offer little protection.

Many victims have been in their 30s and 40s – not the very old or young who typically succumb to the flu. So far, no deaths from the new virus have been reported outside Mexico.

It could take four to six months before the first batch of vaccines are available, WHO officials said.

Some antiflu drugs do work once someone is sick.

The new flu strain is a combination of pig, bird and human viruses that humans may have no natural immunity to.

Governments in Asia – with memories of previous flu outbreaks – were especially cautious.

Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines dusted off thermal scanners used in the 2003 Sars crisis and were checking for signs of fever among passengers from North America.

South Korea, India and Indonesia also announced screening.

Teams of doctors, nurses and government officials boarded flights arriving in Japan from Mexico, the US and Canada to check passengers for signs of the flu.