Expertos evaluarán la actuación de la organización frente a la pandemia de influenza A H1N1, luego de que el Consejo de Europa denunció la posible presión de laboratorios farmacéuticos para exagerar la situación.
Doris Gómora
El Universal
Miércoles 13 de enero de 2010
politica@eluniversal.com.mx
Expertos evaluarán la actuación de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) frente a la pandemia de influenza A H1N1, luego de que el Consejo de Europa denunció la posible presión de laboratorios farmacéuticos para exagerar la situación y promover así la aplicación de vacunas y la venta de medicinas.
La portavoz de la OMS, Fadela Chaib, aseguró que están abiertos a las críticas, descartó presión de las farmacéuticas y dijo que los resultados de la investigación del panel de expertos independientes se harán públicos.
La funcionaria no precisó cuándo se realizará el análisis.
La iniciativa de someter a revisión la actuación de la OMS surgió del presidente de la Comisión de Salud de la Asamblea Parlamentaria del Consejo de Europa, Wolfgang Wodarg, quien afirmó que los primeros niveles de alarma emitidos por el organismo obligaron a los países a reaccionar inmediatamente y firmar acuerdos comerciales para adquirir vacunas contra la nueva gripe y gastar millones de dólares para responder. Pero ahora, dijo, “se ha redefinido el nivel pandémico y el de alerta”.
Varios países (EU, Alemania, Francia y Gran Bretaña, entre ellos) están recortando sus pedidos de vacunas e incluso devolviéndolas ahora que está claro que el brote, declarado pandemia por la OMS en junio, no es tan severo.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta influencia mal manejada en los medios de comunicación en México. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta influencia mal manejada en los medios de comunicación en México. Mostrar todas las entradas
miércoles, 13 de enero de 2010
domingo, 3 de mayo de 2009
Algunos misterios difíciles de desentrañar sobre la influenza ("parte 25")
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090502/NEWS10/305029993/1005/NEWS10
Many flu mysteries difficult to unravel
Eric CarvinAssociated Press
Government officials, public health experts and business leaders have faced a lot of questions about swine flu this week, and three words keep popping up in their answers: “We don’t know.”
The flu outbreak has spawned many mysteries – about origin, scope and impact, just for starters – and some of the most fundamental questions remain unanswered, or unanswerable.
Here’s some of what we don’t know.
Q. How many people have had the virus?
A. A lot of numbers have bubbled up – more than 100 lab-confirmed cases in the United States, more than 300 in Mexico, and dozens more in a few other countries. And then there are the suspected cases – thousands in Mexico alone.
But the real number of infections around the world is impossible to know, because many people may get better without ever seeing a doctor. Even among the lab-confirmed cases, many people have had only mild symptoms.
Q. How big will this get?
A. We probably won’t know the answer until scientists figure out how easily the virus spreads and how often it kills. Then, they might be able to project more accurately what damage the outbreak might cause.
An influenza outbreak can spread rapidly and unpredictably. The swine flu has taken hold in densely populated areas – such as Mexico City, home to 20 million people – where it can spread at an alarming rate. And the disease has popped up in many parts of the world, thanks to easy travel.
Even the public health experts most plugged into swine flu don’t want to speculate about the ultimate scope of the outbreak.
Q. When and where did it start?
A. The virus may have mutated into its current form months or even a year ago, and it happened, well, somewhere in the world.
The first symptoms started to show up in early March in the Mexican state of Veracruz.
The earliest confirmed case was a 5-year-old boy, one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe.
People from La Gloria kept going to jobs in Mexico City despite their illnesses, and could have infected people there.
Still, there’s no guarantee the virus came into existence in Veracruz. It spreads so easily, it could have made its way to Mexico from just about anywhere.
Some Mexican officials have offered some other suggestions of places where the virus may have begun, such as China, Pakistan or Bangladesh. But the fact is that the flu’s origin remains a mystery.
Q. Why have so many people died in Mexico, but virtually nobody anywhere else?
A. A swarm of public health experts – including several from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – have descended upon Mexico in search of an answer. This is especially a head-scratcher because experts have found no difference in samples of the virus collected in Mexico and the United States.
One theory is that many more people have had the virus in Mexico than health officials realize, and the number of cases there could well eclipse the number anywhere else in the world. If so, that country’s death toll – more than a dozen confirmed deaths and many more suspected ones – would make sense.
Q. Will changes in the WHO alert level help stem the outbreak?
A. That’s the idea, but it’s unclear what concrete actions are actually taken by WHO and countries with a change in the alert level – which was bumped up on Wednesday to Phase 5, one step away from the highest level, which indicates a global outbreak.
The alert levels mainly signify WHO’s assessment of the pandemic situation, but they do come with actions and responsibilities. At the higher alert levels, WHO is essentially warning countries to prepare for a pandemic.
The alert system, however, is largely untested. Monday was the first time it had ever been raised above Phase 3, which signifies only occasional cases or small clusters of a new flu virus.
Many flu mysteries difficult to unravel
Eric CarvinAssociated Press
Government officials, public health experts and business leaders have faced a lot of questions about swine flu this week, and three words keep popping up in their answers: “We don’t know.”
The flu outbreak has spawned many mysteries – about origin, scope and impact, just for starters – and some of the most fundamental questions remain unanswered, or unanswerable.
Here’s some of what we don’t know.
Q. How many people have had the virus?
A. A lot of numbers have bubbled up – more than 100 lab-confirmed cases in the United States, more than 300 in Mexico, and dozens more in a few other countries. And then there are the suspected cases – thousands in Mexico alone.
But the real number of infections around the world is impossible to know, because many people may get better without ever seeing a doctor. Even among the lab-confirmed cases, many people have had only mild symptoms.
Q. How big will this get?
A. We probably won’t know the answer until scientists figure out how easily the virus spreads and how often it kills. Then, they might be able to project more accurately what damage the outbreak might cause.
An influenza outbreak can spread rapidly and unpredictably. The swine flu has taken hold in densely populated areas – such as Mexico City, home to 20 million people – where it can spread at an alarming rate. And the disease has popped up in many parts of the world, thanks to easy travel.
Even the public health experts most plugged into swine flu don’t want to speculate about the ultimate scope of the outbreak.
Q. When and where did it start?
A. The virus may have mutated into its current form months or even a year ago, and it happened, well, somewhere in the world.
The first symptoms started to show up in early March in the Mexican state of Veracruz.
The earliest confirmed case was a 5-year-old boy, one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe.
People from La Gloria kept going to jobs in Mexico City despite their illnesses, and could have infected people there.
Still, there’s no guarantee the virus came into existence in Veracruz. It spreads so easily, it could have made its way to Mexico from just about anywhere.
Some Mexican officials have offered some other suggestions of places where the virus may have begun, such as China, Pakistan or Bangladesh. But the fact is that the flu’s origin remains a mystery.
Q. Why have so many people died in Mexico, but virtually nobody anywhere else?
A. A swarm of public health experts – including several from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – have descended upon Mexico in search of an answer. This is especially a head-scratcher because experts have found no difference in samples of the virus collected in Mexico and the United States.
One theory is that many more people have had the virus in Mexico than health officials realize, and the number of cases there could well eclipse the number anywhere else in the world. If so, that country’s death toll – more than a dozen confirmed deaths and many more suspected ones – would make sense.
Q. Will changes in the WHO alert level help stem the outbreak?
A. That’s the idea, but it’s unclear what concrete actions are actually taken by WHO and countries with a change in the alert level – which was bumped up on Wednesday to Phase 5, one step away from the highest level, which indicates a global outbreak.
The alert levels mainly signify WHO’s assessment of the pandemic situation, but they do come with actions and responsibilities. At the higher alert levels, WHO is essentially warning countries to prepare for a pandemic.
The alert system, however, is largely untested. Monday was the first time it had ever been raised above Phase 3, which signifies only occasional cases or small clusters of a new flu virus.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Muchos de gripe difícil de desentrañar los misterios
Eric CarvinAssociated Prensa
Funcionarios gubernamentales, expertos en salud pública y los líderes empresariales se han enfrentado a un montón de preguntas sobre la gripe porcina de esta semana, tres palabras y seguir apareciendo en sus respuestas: "No sabemos".
El brote de gripe ha generado muchos misterios - sobre el origen, alcance y efectos, sólo para comenzar - y algunas de las preguntas más fundamentales siguen sin respuesta, o discusión.
He aquí algunas de las cosas que no sabemos.
P. ¿Cuántas personas han tenido el virus?
A. Una gran cantidad de números de burbujas - más de 100 casos confirmados por laboratorio en los Estados Unidos, más de 300 en Mexico, y docenas más en algunos otros países. Y luego están los casos sospechosos - miles de personas en Mexico solo.
Pero el número real de infecciones en todo el mundo es imposible saber, ya que muchas personas pueden obtener cada vez mejores, sin ver a un médico. Incluso entre los casos confirmados por laboratorio, muchas personas han tenido sólo síntomas leves.
P. ¿Cómo va a obtener grandes?
R. Probablemente no sabe la respuesta hasta que los científicos sepan cómo el virus se propaga fácilmente y con qué frecuencia mata. Entonces, podrían ser capaces de proyectar con mayor precisión qué daño puede causar el estallido.
Un brote de gripe pueden propagar rápidamente y de forma impredecible. La gripe porcina se ha afianzado en las zonas densamente pobladas - tales como la Ciudad de México, hogar de 20 millones de personas - en caso de que se puede propagar a un ritmo alarmante. Y la enfermedad ha aparecido en muchas partes del mundo, gracias a un fácil viaje.
Incluso los expertos en salud pública más enchufado a la gripe porcina no quiero especular sobre el alcance final del brote.
P. ¿Cuándo y dónde empieza?
A. El virus puede haber mutado en su forma actual, meses o incluso hace un año, y pasó, así, en algún lugar del mundo.
Los primeros síntomas comenzaron a aparecer a principios de marzo en el estado mexicano de Veracruz.
El primer caso confirmado es un 5-años de edad, uno de cientos de personas en la ciudad de La Gloria cuyos síntomas de la gripe dejado luchando por respirar.
La gente de La Gloria siguió su camino a los puestos de trabajo en la Ciudad de México, a pesar de sus enfermedades, y podrían tener las personas infectadas por allí.
Sin embargo, no hay garantía de que el virus entró en existencia en Veracruz. Se propaga con tanta facilidad, se podría haber hecho su camino a Mexico desde casi cualquier lugar.
Algunos funcionarios mexicanos han ofrecido algunas otras sugerencias de lugares donde el virus puede haber comenzado, como China, Pakistán o Bangladesh. Pero el hecho es que la gripe de origen sigue siendo un misterio.
P. ¿Por qué tantas personas han muerto en Mexico, pero prácticamente nadie en ninguna otra parte?
A. Un enjambre de expertos en salud pública - entre ellos varios de los EE.UU. Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades - han descendido a Mexico en busca de una respuesta. Esto es especialmente una cabeza scratcher porque los expertos no han encontrado diferencias en las muestras del virus recogidas en Mexico y los Estados Unidos.
Una teoría es que muchas más personas han tenido el virus en Mexico que realizar los funcionarios de salud, y el número de casos podría eclipsar el número en cualquier parte del mundo. Si es así, que el número de muertos del país - más de una docena de muertos confirmados y muchos más sospechosos que - tendría sentido.
P. ¿Los cambios en el nivel de alerta de la OMS ayudará a frenar el brote?
A. Eso s la idea, pero es claro qué medidas concretas se toman realmente por la OMS y los países con un cambio en el nivel de alerta - que fue golpeado hasta el miércoles a la fase 5, a un paso de más alto nivel, que indica que hay un brote mundial.
Los niveles de alerta de la OMS significa principalmente la evaluación de la situación de pandemia, sino que vienen con las acciones y responsabilidades. En los más altos niveles de alerta, la OMS es esencialmente de alerta a los países a prepararse para una pandemia.
El sistema de alerta, sin embargo, es en gran medida a prueba. Lunes fue la primera vez que había sido planteada por encima de la Fase 3, lo que significa sólo ocasionalmente casos o pequeños grupos de un nuevo virus de la gripe.
viernes, 1 de mayo de 2009
Hijos de su influenzosa madre, ya nos volvieron a decir una burda mentirota: el H1N1 no es tan grave como se pretendió hacernos creer
Tal parece que para el 6 de mayo, se va a declarar en cadena nacional que ha habido un brutal trinunfo en México contra la influenza porcina, y que el pelele se va a dornar diciendo que gracias a la acción oportuna de las autoridades y a la civilidad y moralidad de la ciudadanía en México, se ha logrado vencer al H1N1. Cuando la verdad es que la educación cívica, la civilidad entre los mexicanos es prácticamente inexistente, la respuesta de las autoridades ha sido contradictoria y fallida, y francamente manipuladora. ¿Cuándo se anunciará la suspensión de las medidas inconstitucionales anunciadas el fin de semana pasado con bombo y platillo?
Qué lástima que el virus no se va a llevar a tantos que prostituyen y corrompen el de por sí ambiente de miserio, inmundicia moral y corrupción que es la peor epidemia que padece nuestra sociedad. Siento que una, vez más, hemos sido violados, abusados en la integridad que como humanos se supone que nos caracteriza. Este absurdo manejo de la "epidemia" del H1N1 nos deja como el cuento del pastor y las ovejas, ¿le creeremos a los gobiernos cuando nos vuelvan a decir "¡Un virus, un virus!"? Personalmente creo que no lo haré, como no lo hice esta vez.
La experiencia de la epidemia deja aún más destruida la confianza social indispensable para la vida cívica. No hay medicina electoral que logre salvarnos de este estado terminal. Nuestra sociedad es ya un cáncer, lo corroe la metástasis. Debemos practicar la eutanasia a este cuerpo social ya invadido de cáncer.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Brote de gripe AH1N1 podría no ser tan severo como se creía al inicio: agencia EU
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2009/05/01/brote-de-gripe-ah1n1-podria-no-ser-tan-severo-como-se-creia-inicialmente-agencia-eu
"La evidencia sugiere que la transmisión del virus de la influenza A (H1N1) de origen porcino está aumentando y que es una enfermedad común menos severa (sin complicaciones)", dijeron los Centros de Control y Prevención de Enfermedades.Reuters
Publicado: 01/05/2009 11:19Washington. El brote de una nueva y preocupante cepa de influenza en México podría no ser tan severo como se creía inicialmente, por la gran cantidad de casos leves que no fueron inmediatamente notificados, dijeron este viernes
los Centros de Control y Prevención de Enfermedades estadunidenses (CDC).Trabajadores de salud están buscando obtener una rápida explicación para tratar de detener la propagación del virus conocido como H1N1 de gripe porcina, que la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) teme pueda desatar una pandemia.
México, el país más afectado, ha reportado hasta 176 muertes probables por la nueva variedad del virus H1N1.
Alrededor del mundo han sido reportados casos, principalmente entre personas que viajaron recientemente a México, pero ellos han tenido síntomas leves y la mayoría de personas se ha recuperado hasta ahora con poco o sin tratamiento.
La única muerte fuera de México fue un niño de ese país que estaba de visita en Texas, estado fronterizo con Estados Unidos.
Expertos han estado intentando explicar por qué hay muchas muertes en México pero no en otros países, pero el reporte de los CDC sugiere que hay una simple explicación: hay muchos casos en el país latinoamericano, la mayoría son leves, y sólo los que han empeorado son los que se han visto hasta ahora.
"El espectro clínico del virus influenza A (H1N1) de origen porcino no está aún bien caracterizado en México. Sin embargo, la evidencia sugiere que la transmisión del virus de la influenza A (H1N1) de origen porcino está aumentando y que es una enfermedad común menos severa (sin complicaciones)"", dijeron los CDC en un reporte especial.
El reporte continúa argumentando que "hasta la fecha, el caso encontrado en México se ha enfocado en pacientes que han buscado asistencia hospitalaria y la selección de casos para pruebas de laboratorio se ha enfocado en pacientes con síntomas más severos de la enfermedad".
"Por lo tanto, un gran número de casos no detectados de la enfermedad podría existir en personas que están buscando asistencia primaria o en quienes no están buscando asistencia", añadió.
Pero es necesaria una mayor información, destacó el equipo de los CDC.
Los CDC han enviado kits de test a México que ayudarán a tener una mejor información sobre los enfermos. Es difícil determinarlo sin pruebas especiales porque las enfermedades respiratorias son muy comunes y muchas infecciones tienen parecido con la gripe.
"Investigaciones adicionales son necesarias urgentemente para evaluar el espectro clínico completo de la enfermedad en México, la proporción de pacientes que tiene síntomas severos y qué tan extendida está la transmisión de la enfermedad", explicaron los CDC.
Incluso es de destacar que la gripe común puede ser letal, con muertes por influenza estacional estimadas entre 250 mil y 500 mil personas anualmente.
jueves, 30 de abril de 2009
Para nadie es ya un secreto que una de las vertientes de origen de este problema viene de las granjas Carroll, en Perote Veracruz. Ver estas notas...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682/?GT1=43001
Avoid Mexico, Travelers Are Told, as Flu Toll Mounts
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Avoid Mexico, Travelers Are Told, as Flu Toll Mounts
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
While confirmed cases of swine flu increased only slightly Monday, the World Health Organization voted to raise its global pandemic flu alert level a notch but at the same time recommended that borders not be closed nor travel bans imposed.
The W.H.O.’s emergency committee, after meeting until 10:30 P.M. in Geneva, also recommended abandoning efforts to contain the virus.
“Because the virus is already quite widespread in different locations, containment is not a feasible option,” Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the W.H.O. deputy director general said in raising the alert level to 4, from 3. Instead, health officials should emphasize saving lives, he said.
The W.H.O. also recommended that vaccine-makers keep making seasonal flu vaccine instead of switching over to a pandemic vaccine, though it urged vaccine makers to start picking a pandemic strain, weakening it for vaccine use and process, expected to take up to six months, of making a pandemic vaccine.
But Dr. Fukuda emphasized that the committee felt that “a pandemic is not inevitable the situation is fluid and will continue to evolve.”
American officials said their response to the epidemic is already aggressive and the W.H.O.’s decision would not change their plans.
The agency’s decision offered guidance that could help clear up the confusion that seemed to sweep the world. The European Union appeared to issue and then rescind a ban on travel to the United States, drawing a rebuke from American officials, who themselves then recommended against non-essential travel to Mexico.
The number of deaths blamed on the flu in Mexico climbed to 149, while the number of confirmed cases in the United States doubled to 40, with 28 of them students from one New York City school. None of the American cases have been serious, but Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said he “would not rest on that fact.”
“I expect that we will see additional cases and I expect that the spectrum of disease will expand,” he said at a news conference.
As of Monday afternoon, more than 1,600 people in 17 states across Mexico were believed to have been sickened by the virus. Officials in Mexico City had already canceled hundreds of public events and closed many public venues. In Tijuana, soccer officials canceled the remainder of the qualifying tournament for North and Central American teams to get into the Under-17 World Cup.
Mexico City officials have urged people with possible symptoms — headache, cough, sore throat, nausea, fever, dizziness — to stay home. But Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said officials would discuss a further shutdown, which could include public transportation.
Mexican officials said they had traced the origins of the outbreak to a rural area known as La Gloria in the southeastern state of Veracruz, the site of several major pig farms. Officials had initially suspected that the outbreak began in Oaxaca, in the southwestern part of the country. Top global flu experts struggled to predict how dangerous the new A (H1N1) swine flu strain would be as it became clear that they had too little information about Mexico’s outbreak — in particular how many cases had occurred in what is thought to be more than month before the outbreak was detected, and whether the virus was mutating to be more lethal, or less.
C.D.C. teams are in Mexico to help the authorities there gather data and run diagnostic tests, Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, said on Monday afternoon.
John Brennan, the White House homeland security adviser who appeared at a news conference with Ms. Napolitano, said Mexican officials had been “exceptionally cooperative and forthcoming” in keeping Washington up to date.
Despite assurances from medical authorities that a person cannot catch the flu from eating pork, China and Russia banned imports of pork and pork products from Mexico and three American states that have reported cases of swine flu, according to The Associated Press. Indonesia said it was banning all pork imports, and Lebanon said it was banning all pork and pork products, with the exception of some canned goods.
In Washington, Ms. Napolitano said her department was working closely with the government of Mexico and Canada, which also has confirmed cases, in a “trinational approach” to the flu outbreak. Ms. Napolitano said the department is activating a national stockpile of anti-viral drugs and planning other steps in coordination with private interests “should this erupt into a full-fledged pandemic — which it has not yet, by the way.”
Earlier on Monday, the European Union’s health commissioner urged Europeans to avoid traveling to the United States or Mexico if doing so was not essential.
The warning came as health officials in Spain confirmed that a man hospitalized in eastern Spain had tested positive for swine flu, becoming what appeared to be Europe’s first case of the disease. Health authorities were also testing 17 other suspected cases across Spain, a major hub for travel between Mexico and Europe.
Alberto Saiz/Associated Press
Medical staff at a hospital in Valencia, Spain, where a person with possible symptoms of swine flu is being treated. More Photos »
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“Because the virus is already quite widespread in different locations, containment is not a feasible option,” Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the W.H.O. deputy director general said in raising the alert level to 4, from 3. Instead, health officials should emphasize saving lives, he said.
The W.H.O. also recommended that vaccine-makers keep making seasonal flu vaccine instead of switching over to a pandemic vaccine, though it urged vaccine makers to start picking a pandemic strain, weakening it for vaccine use and process, expected to take up to six months, of making a pandemic vaccine.
But Dr. Fukuda emphasized that the committee felt that “a pandemic is not inevitable the situation is fluid and will continue to evolve.”
American officials said their response to the epidemic is already aggressive and the W.H.O.’s decision would not change their plans.
The agency’s decision offered guidance that could help clear up the confusion that seemed to sweep the world. The European Union appeared to issue and then rescind a ban on travel to the United States, drawing a rebuke from American officials, who themselves then recommended against non-essential travel to Mexico.
The number of deaths blamed on the flu in Mexico climbed to 149, while the number of confirmed cases in the United States doubled to 40, with 28 of them students from one New York City school. None of the American cases have been serious, but Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said he “would not rest on that fact.”
“I expect that we will see additional cases and I expect that the spectrum of disease will expand,” he said at a news conference.
As of Monday afternoon, more than 1,600 people in 17 states across Mexico were believed to have been sickened by the virus. Officials in Mexico City had already canceled hundreds of public events and closed many public venues. In Tijuana, soccer officials canceled the remainder of the qualifying tournament for North and Central American teams to get into the Under-17 World Cup.
Mexico City officials have urged people with possible symptoms — headache, cough, sore throat, nausea, fever, dizziness — to stay home. But Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said officials would discuss a further shutdown, which could include public transportation.
Mexican officials said they had traced the origins of the outbreak to a rural area known as La Gloria in the southeastern state of Veracruz, the site of several major pig farms. Officials had initially suspected that the outbreak began in Oaxaca, in the southwestern part of the country. Top global flu experts struggled to predict how dangerous the new A (H1N1) swine flu strain would be as it became clear that they had too little information about Mexico’s outbreak — in particular how many cases had occurred in what is thought to be more than month before the outbreak was detected, and whether the virus was mutating to be more lethal, or less.
C.D.C. teams are in Mexico to help the authorities there gather data and run diagnostic tests, Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, said on Monday afternoon.
John Brennan, the White House homeland security adviser who appeared at a news conference with Ms. Napolitano, said Mexican officials had been “exceptionally cooperative and forthcoming” in keeping Washington up to date.
Despite assurances from medical authorities that a person cannot catch the flu from eating pork, China and Russia banned imports of pork and pork products from Mexico and three American states that have reported cases of swine flu, according to The Associated Press. Indonesia said it was banning all pork imports, and Lebanon said it was banning all pork and pork products, with the exception of some canned goods.
In Washington, Ms. Napolitano said her department was working closely with the government of Mexico and Canada, which also has confirmed cases, in a “trinational approach” to the flu outbreak. Ms. Napolitano said the department is activating a national stockpile of anti-viral drugs and planning other steps in coordination with private interests “should this erupt into a full-fledged pandemic — which it has not yet, by the way.”
Earlier on Monday, the European Union’s health commissioner urged Europeans to avoid traveling to the United States or Mexico if doing so was not essential.
The warning came as health officials in Spain confirmed that a man hospitalized in eastern Spain had tested positive for swine flu, becoming what appeared to be Europe’s first case of the disease. Health authorities were also testing 17 other suspected cases across Spain, a major hub for travel between Mexico and Europe.
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