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Deadly new flu breaks out in Mexico, U.S.
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| Joss Weatherby |
Oh ... :wtf:
| quote: | Deadly new flu breaks out in Mexico, U.S.
By Alistair Bell and Noel Randewich
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A deadly strain of flu never seen before has killed as many as 61 people in Mexico and has spread into the United States, where several people were reported ill.
Mexico's government said on Friday that at least 16 people have died of the disease in central Mexico and that it may also have been responsible for 45 other deaths.
The World Health Organization said genetic tests of the virus in 12 of the Mexican victims had the same genetic structure as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in seven people in California and Texas.
Because there is clearly human-to-human spread of the new virus, raising fears of a major outbreak, Mexico's government canceled classes for millions of children in its sprawling capital city and surrounding areas.
"It is a virus that mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans," Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.
It first looked mostly like a swine virus but closer analysis showed it is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Humans can occasionally catch swine flu from pigs but rarely have they been known to pass it on to other people.
CLOSE TO 1,000 SUSPECTED CASES IN MEXICO
Seven people were infected with the new strain in California and Texas, but all of them have recovered. Mexico said it had close to 1,000 suspected cases there.
Worldwide, seasonal flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people in an average year, but the flu season for North America should have been winding down.
The White House was closely following the new cases in the United States and Mexico, and President Barack Obama has been informed, an administration official said.
The Mexican government cautioned people not to shake hands or kiss when greeting or to share food, glasses or cutlery for fear of infection.
The outbreak jolted residents of the Mexican capital, one of the world's biggest cities and home to some 20 million people.
One pharmacy ran out of surgical face masks after selling 300 in a day.
"We're frightened because they say it's not exactly flu, it's another kind of virus and we're not vaccinated," said Angeles Rivera, 34, a federal government worker who fetched her son from a public kindergarten that was closing.
The virus is an influenza A virus, carrying the designation H1N1. It contains DNA from avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses, the CDC has said.
The Geneva-based U.N. agency WHO said it was in daily contact with U.S., Canadian and Mexican authorities and had activated its Strategic Health Operations Center (SHOC) -- its command and control center for acute public health events.
The CDC said it will issue daily updates here
Surveillance for and scrutiny of influenza has been stepped up since 2003, when H5N1 bird flu reappeared in Asia. Experts fear this strain, or another strain, could spark a pandemic that could kill millions.
In Egypt, a 33-year-old woman died of bird flu, becoming the third person killed there in a week. The H5N1 bird flu, a completely different strain from the swine flu, has infected 421 people in 15 countries and killed 257 since 2003.
(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Maggie Fox and Eric Walsh) |
http://www.reuters.com/article/topN...topNews&sp=true |
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| Palladium |
| will smith will save us |
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| elFreak |
| mexico will never influence the rest of the world. |
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| SuspicionVandit |
"It is a virus that mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans," Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.
sexually |
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| jonSun |
| First the niggaz bang monkeys & give us AIDS. now the mexicans are bangin pigs & givin us the flu. :( |
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| elFreak |
| i'm getting sick of these shenanigans. |
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| boris_the_bear |
| quote: | Originally posted by jonSun
First the niggaz bang monkeys & give us AIDS. now the mexicans are bangin pigs & givin us the flu. :( |
:stongue: :stongue: :stongue: :stongue: fock:stongue: :stongue: :stongue: :stongue: oh my belly hurts:stongue: :stongue: :stongue: |
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| tubularbills |
| whatever, they've discovered the plague in san diego squirrels too |
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| woscar |
| quote: | Originally posted by SuspicionVandit
"It is a virus that mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans," Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.
sexually |
Nachos :o |
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| Frenchie |
| Who is going to clean the pool? |
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