Mexico  According to some statements, this March 18, 2009, the Mexican government became aware of A H1N1 swine influenza outbreaks in Mexico. The outbreak of the novel influenza A H1N1 virus originated from swine flu virus, infected lots of people in Mexico and some parts of the world, resulting diseases from gentle to severe. Preliminary statements indicates that the outbreak actually initiated in February 2009 because of the farming schemes at a pig farm subsidiary owned by Smithfield Foods. But as the results of some laboratory test and examination, it had found no clinical signs and indications for the incidence of swine flu in the company’s herd and its employees. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated critical concerns on April 24 that the novel strain, which spreads between humans and which has had a relatively high mortality rate in the possible and confirmed Mexican cases, had the potential to become a flu pandemic. By June 1 a total of 1,530 cases had been confirmed in Canada, affecting every province and territory except for Newfoundland and Labrador. Canada This April 27, 2009, in the eastern region of Canada, four cases were believed to be swine flu in Ontario. This quantity increases to ten cases in five days.  As of May 29, there were 576 verified cases of swine flu in the Greater Toronto Area, and 626 in total across the province of Ontario. 313 cases had been confirmed in the City of Toronto, 98 in Peel, 82 in York, 62 in Halton, sixteen in Durham (including at least three in Port Perry), and five in Hamilton. Six of the cases are considered severe, requiring hospitalization. The Toronto region had been a secondary epicenter during the 2003 SARS epidemic. On May 25, Ontario Health Minister David Caplan confirmed that a Toronto man in his 40s is believed to have died of the H1N1 swine flu virus. While early cases in Montreal and Quebec turned out not to be swine flu, on April 30, 2009, the first case was confirmed in Québec in the Greater Montreal Area, with three more suspected cases under investigation. Another case was confirmed within the city of Montreal itself on May 2. As of May 5, two more cases were discovered: one in Laval (spotted on May 4) and another one in the Montérégie region. All the cases showed mild symptoms, hence there was no need for medical treatment. Voluntary quarantine had been suggested. By 29 May, Quebec cases had risen to 253 total. In central and western region of Canada, as of May 29, there were 121 confirmed cases of swine flu in Alberta; 53 cases in Edmonton, 35 in Calgary, 17 in Central Alberta, 11 in Northern Alberta, 4 in Southern Alberta, and one out-of-country resident. This includes four severe cases. This included four young people who had recently returned from Mexico. Most of the individuals had a mild form of the illness except for a young girl from the Edmonton area who had a severe case and was taken to hospital on May 4, the first severe one in Canada. On May 8, health officials in Alberta confirmed that swine flu contributed to the death of a woman in Northern Alberta on April 28, Canada’s first death associated with the illness. On May 2, Canadian Food Inspection Agency executive vice-president Brian Evans announced that an infected Alberta farm worker recently returned from Mexico had apparently passed the virus to a swine herd in his care. Although the herd had been quarantined, Evans stressed that the infection represented no threat to food safety and judged the possibility of infected pigs passing the virus back to humans “remote”. Evans said the infection of the herd was the first known case of the H1N1 virus being transmitted from humans to pigs. The cases in British Columbia involved two young men aged 25–35 from the B.C. Lower Mainland who had recently come back from Mexico, according to Danuta Skowronski, head of flu and respiratory illnesses at the BC Centre for Disease Control, run by the provincial government. The cases were discovered by normal flu testing conducted by the disease control center after the men had visited a doctor about flu-like symptoms. Skowronski said the two men had been asked to “self-isolate” themselves but had not officially been quarantined. He noted the disease seemed “widespread” in Mexico and should not be mistaken by tourists to be linked only with urban Mexico City. As of May 29, there are 122 cases in the province; 45 in Fraser Health, 34 in Vancouver Coastal, 24 in Northern British Columbia, 16 on Vancouver Island, and 3 in the Interior.[33] On May 3, the first case in Manitoba was confirmed in the Brandon area. The second case of Manitoba was announced on May 12. The second case, a Winnipeg woman in her 50s has been infected with the virus, and has been admitted to hospital, although the province notes she also has an unidentified underlying medical condition. As of May 29, there are 11 confirmed cases in Manitoba. On May 7, health officials in Saskatchewan confirmed two cases of swine flu in the Saskatoon and Regina areas, the first in the province. As of May 29, there are 123 confirmed cases in the province; 86 in Saskatoon, 25 in Regina–Qu’Appelle, 4 in Heartland RHA, 4 in Prince Albert Parkland, 1 in Five Hills RHA, 1 in Keewatin Yatthé RHA, 1 in Kelsey Trail RHA, and 1 in Sun Country RHA. Canada has a total of 1,530 confirmed cases of swine flu and 2 confirmed deaths. Among the provinces are the following; Alberta 126/1, British Columbia 132/0, Manitoba 11/0, New Brunswick 2/0, Northwest Territories 1/0, Nova Scotia 73/0, Nunavut 4/0, Ontario 715/1, Prince Edward Island 3/0, Quebec 309/0, Saskatchewan 153/0, Yukon 1/0.  Legend: Black – death, Red – confirmed cases Hongkong & South Korea  Swine flu continued its global march as South Korea confirmed its first case and Hong Kong and China scrambled to track down anybody who had been in contact with an infected Mexican man. But amid the spread of the virus, health authorities said the world appeared better prepared to fight an epidemic than a few years ago, and vowed that a vaccine was only months away. Hong Kong was placed on its highest health alert after the 25-year-old Mexican tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus on Friday, the first confirmed case of swine flu in Asia. Officials in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan were desperately trying to reach anyone who may have come into contact with the man during his journey from Mexico, via Shanghai. As some pharmacies in sold out of protective masks, more than 300 guests and staff at a hotel where the Mexican stayed were put in isolation for seven days and authorities were trying to locate fellow air passengers. China said it was to put all passengers on the flight from Mexico to Shanghai under quarantine and that flights from Mexico to the city were being suspended. China is to send a plane to Mexico to bring back stranded tourists, according to Xinhua news agency. Meanwhile, South Korean authorities confirmed the first case there, involving a 51-year-old woman who returned from Mexico Sunday and Denmark and France joined the list of countries reporting their first cases. The latest confirmed cases bring to 16 the total in which authorities have announced swine flu within their borders. The World Health Organisation (WHO) puts the total at 13 but France, Costa Rica and South Korea have also reported confirmed cases. Mexico’s government late Friday raised its confirmed toll to 16 dead and 381 infected. But in a sign that authorities may be containing the spread of the disease, the country, which has been at the epicentre of the outbreak, said the new, multi-strain virus appeared not to be as aggressive as had first been feared. “Fortunately, the virus is not so aggressive — it’s not a case of avian flu, which had a mortality rate of nearly 70 percent,” Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova earlier told reporters. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was taking no chances, however, in this densely populated, sub-tropical territory, saying he would “raise the alert level from serious to emergency.” The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement: “Test results have confirmed the first probable patient, whose case was reported on Monday, was infected with Influenza A (H1N1).” The woman, reportedly a nun, is expected to be discharged from hospital Monday, health officials said. Elsewhere in Asia a New Delhi hospital was monitoring two patients suspected of suffering from swine flu after arriving from abroad, a senior Indian government doctor said. And in Japan, a four-month-old US baby girl was undergoing tests for swine flu, the country’s latest suspected case of the virus, officials said. The WHO has warned that a pandemic is now imminent, raising its alert level to five out of six, but a senior official at the UN agency said a vaccine was in the pipeline. “We have no doubt that making a successful is possible in a relatively short period of time,” Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research said, adding it may take four to six months. With 143 infections confirmed in the United States across 20 states, US officials also said the outbreak did not appear to be anywhere near as dangerous as the 1918 flu epidemic, which killed an estimated 50 million people around the globe. Philippine Republic  Manila health officials announced Friday that the Philippines now has 14 confirmed cases of influenza A (H1N1) or swine flu. Health Secretary Francisco Duque said that aside from 14 confirmed cases, 27 more suspected cases were recorded. The patients have developed mild symptoms, but Duque said they are responding positively to treatment. Two of the new cases, a 20-year-old male and a two-year-old girl, had contact with a Taiwanese mother and daughter who were confirmed with swine flu after returning to Taiwan last week. Duque urged the public Friday to stay calm, saying the country has no severe case of H1N1 yet. Deputy presidential spokesman Dr. Anthony Golez, for his part, said the swine flu virus has been contained and the country has adequate stock of anti-viral drugs. Golez said the DOH has one million pieces of anti-viral drugs, a stockpile that can be easily augmented with new procurements. He said the government would regulate the dispensation of Tamiflu in case of a pandemic so that only those who have H1N1 would be able to buy it. This is to avoid creating an artificial shortage. DOH’s aggressive contact tracing of the first victim, who came from the United States, made possible the proper containment of the virus, he added. “Based on its experience with SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) before, the DOH was able to adopt this contact tracing procedure more systematically and more aggressively with this new flu virus which, thank God, has not reached a pandemic or human-to-human transmission stage yet. Confirmed Cases Worldwide  Dr. José Ángel Córdova Villalobos, the federal Secretary of Health, stated on 25 April that since March, there had been over 1300 reported cases and put the death toll at 83, with 20 confirmed to be linked to a new swine influenza strain of Influenza A virus subtype H1N1. As of April 26 there have been 1,614 cases, with 103 deaths and about 400 patients in hospitals. Around two-thirds of the sick patients had recovered. However, flu death toll in Mexico could be lower than first thought, said Dr. Gregory Evans, head of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada and a member of a federal pandemic-planning committee, on 29 April. Currently, novel influenza A H1N1 virus has now infected 15,510 people in 53 countries since it was first uncovered last month in the United States and Mexico, the World Health Organization reported. ================= This has been brought to you by The Big NM's ONLINE SPACE BUSINESS and Alfa PXP 
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