WHO: Global Pandemic Imminent

First U.S. Swine Flu Death Reported; Nearly 100 Confirmed Cases In 10 States

(CBS/AP)  The World Health Organization on Wednesday raised its alert level for the fast-spreading swine flu to its next-to-highest notch, signaling a global pandemic could be imminent.

The move came after the virus spread to at least 11 U.S. states from coast to coast and swept deeper into Europe.

"It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic," said WHO Director General Margaret Chan. "We do not have all the answers right now but we will get them."

In the United States, President Obama mourned the first U.S. death, a Mexican toddler who had traveled with his family to Texas.

Total American cases surged to nearly 100. But there are far more suspected cases, from a military base in California where 30 Marines are quarantined to the University of Delaware, where four people have fallen ill, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

"Schools with confirmed or suspected cases of H1N1 should strongly consider temporarily closing so that we can be as safe as possible," Mr. Obama said.

In Mexico, where the flu is believed to have originated, officials said Wednesday the disease was confirmed or suspected in 159 deaths and almost 2,500 illnesses. But in Mexico City, officials suggested the outbreak there seemed to be stabilizing, with far fewer deaths being reported.

The WHO says the phase 5 alert means there is sustained human-to-human spread in at least two countries. It also signals that efforts to produce a vaccine will be ramped up.

In Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was questioned by senators on whether the U.S. should close its border with Mexico. She repeated the administration's position that questioning of people at borders and ports of entry was sufficient for now, and said closing borders "has not been merited by the facts."

The WHO made it clear earlier in the week that the virus had already spread so far and so fast that border restrictions were ineffective.

Mr. Obama made it clear in his primetime news conference Wednesday that he does not support closing the border. He said health officials aren't recommending the measure and likened it - in his words - to closing the barn door after the horses are out.

Mr. Obama said Americans must maintain great vigilance and respond appropriately to swine flu cases cropping up in their communities. He also said the outbreak was cause for deep concern, but not panic.

Dr. Richard Besser, the acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control, said in Atlanta that there were confirmed cases in 10 states, with 51 in New York, 14 in California and 16 in Texas, where officials said Wednesday they were postponing all public high school athletic and academic competitions until May 11.

Two cases have been confirmed in Kansas, Massachusetts and Michigan, while single cases have been reported in Arizona, Indiana, Nevada and Ohio. State officials in Maine said laboratory tests also had confirmed three cases in that state, although those had not yet been included in the CDC count.

Laboratory testing shows the new virus is treatable by the anti-flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, and the first shipments from a federal stockpile arrived Wednesday in New York City and several other locations in the U.S. The government was shipping to states enough medication to treat 11 million people as a precaution.

Federal officials insist they have enough courses of the Tamiflu - roughly 50 million - to weather even a major outbreak, reports Cordes.

"The question is how rapidly and effectively can that Tamiflu actually get into the hands of families that need to take it when they need to take it," Dr. Irwin Redlener of Columbia University told Cordes. For the Tamilflu to be effective, a patient must take it within 48 hours of having flu symptoms.

Meanwhile, Egypt's government ordered the slaughter of all pigs in the country as a precaution, though no swine flu cases have been reported there. Egypt's overwhelmingly Muslim population does not eat pork, but farmers raise some 300,000-350,000 pigs for the Christian minority.

The disease is not spread by eating pork, and farmers were to be allowed to sell the meat from the slaughtered animals.

In fact, officials appeared to go out of their way on Wednesday to not call the strain "swine flu." Mr. Obama called the bug the "H1N1 virus."

"The disease is not a food-borne illness," Rear Adm. Anne Schuchat, CDC's interim science and public health deputy direct, told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

She said the strain is particularly worrisome because "it's a virus that hasn't been around before. The general population doesn't have immunity from it."

People have various levels of protection against other more common types of flu because they are exposed to it over time, and that protection accumulates. She suggested that some older people might have more resistance to this particular strain than younger people because its traits might resemble outbreaks of decades ago.

Germany became the latest country to report swine flu infections. It reported four cases on Wednesday.

New Zealand's total rose to 14. Britain had earlier reported five cases, Spain four. There were 13 cases in Canada, two in Israel and one in Austria.

Mr. Obama said it is the recommendation of public health officials that authorities at schools with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu "should strongly consider temporarily closing so that we can be as safe as possible."

He was underscoring advice that the CDC provided earlier to cities and states, and that some schools - most prominently in New York City - already have followed.

"If the situation becomes more serious and we have to take more extensive steps, then parents should also think about contingencies if schools in their areas do temporarily shut down, figuring out and planning what their child care situation would be," Mr. Obama advised.

He advised people to take their own precautions - washing hands, staying home if they are sick, and keeping sick kids home.

Mr. Obama said the federal government is "prepared to do whatever is necessary to control the impact of this virus." He noted his request for $1.5 billion in emergency funding to ensure adequate supplies of vaccines.

CDC for days has said people with flulike symptoms should stay home - but now also is stressing that other family members should consider staying home or at least limiting how much they go out until they're sure they didn't catch it.

Besser, the acting CDC director, called it "an abundance of caution," but stressed that it's voluntary and that the government hasn't urged actual quarantine, which isn't really effective with flu.

Besser told The Early Show that trying to determine why the disease has caused so many more fatalities in Mexico than elsewhere was "a critical question" for American scientists working on the ground with their counterparts south of the border.

Swine Flu News Worldwide:

[okinreport--2008]

please, see this link - a portrait serie about the swine flu outbreak in mexico city

http://www.okinreport.net/en/category/mexican_projects/swine-flu-mexico-city/

[mnamolina]

WHO's website as of today say only 7 deaths world wide. That's a far cry from teh 159 the media is reporting. Why the fear mongering?

[blog_fever2]

Gays can marry in the U.S.A.; now we have swine flu. Coincidence? I think not.

[TeabagBandit]

Why is a MEXICAN toddler being counted as the first US death. Last I read, MEXICAN citizen does not mean US citizen, well unless you live in California and Arizona.
Posted by au_fait ..

my guess is because the boy died on U.S. Soil.

[godfirstcountrysecond]

I can admit that I am starting to think about buying masks for the whole family, but the media has ran with this. It is a flu and (God forgive me) those that generaly perish from the flu have a weak immune system as is. If you wash your hands and have seemingly good hygen you should be fine. I understand that it is hard to not get swept up in the panic but it is JUST THE FLU. about 3 strains in 1.

[au_fait]

Why is a MEXICAN toddler being counted as the first US death. Last I read, MEXICAN citizen does not mean US citizen, well unless you live in California and Arizona.

[jsf14]

People with mild cases don't generally go to the dr. When I had seasonal flu this year I didn't. So it's probably been in the US for a while. BTW, I'd suggest emailing your doc or phoning if you think you have flu rather than going in. A doc's office is one of those places you're likely to be exposed to disease.

[BeckieBest]

Not one American has died of this yet people.

36,000 die every year in the U.S. from ordinary flu.

This is silly.

[the74blaster]

Because I'm smart enough, that I don't need a god or a 2,000 year old book telling me what to think?
Posted by hungry1968-15 at 7:17 AM : Apr 30, 2009

Nahhhhhhh, all you need is the Godess in your mind....too bad it's a dingbat.
Posted by Rowdy108 at 7:48 AM : Apr 30, 2009

You need to remember in some cultures you first hear the KABOOM, then you get 72 godesses.

[valh1]

WHO wants some bacon.

[clancy49]

In this Panic, no where does it say if you contract the H1N1 virus you will die, or did I miss something. The flu is the flu. You get sick and take care of it. You don't have to die! For a country that is so concerned over living and panicking over a flu virus we don't care about life anywhere else. I mean I read over and over again to bomb Iraq and Afghanistan, torture is legal, the bad people need to suffer not us. Who are we really?

[hungry1968-15]

I always think of Edith Bunker when I hear that term.
Posted by TheMasses03 at 7:52 AM : Apr 30, 2009




The term "Rowdy"?

Yeah, me too.

[hungry1968-15]

hungary1968-15 YOUR THE DIGBAT!
Posted by mypatch at 6:46 AM : Apr 30, 2009





Because I'm smart enough, that I don't need a god or a 2,000 year old book telling me what to think?

[truthseeker60]

Here we go People, Heads up;
It took corporate media swine flu hysteria to ram through a martial law bill in Massachusetts. S18 gives the Governor the power to authorize the deployment and use of force to distribute supplies and materials and local authorities will be allowed to enter private residences for investigation and to quarantine individuals.
us news Swine Flu Martial Law Bill Clears Massachusetts Senate

The Associated Press reports:
The Massachusetts Senate has unanimously passed a pandemic flu preparation bill that has languished in the Legislature before the recent swine flu outbreak.

[manny781]

Posted by american_11-2009

True, it makes me feel very uncomfortable that the politicians think that it's acceptable to burden our health system with these sick Mexicans. Plus, by the time they cross into the US and go to the hospital they've already been sick for a couple of weeks spreading the germs around because they know they're not supposed to be here so the hospital is their last resort. The 23 month old Mexican boy who died in Texas was supposively in the US since April 4th and showed flu systems a couple of days later but was only brought into the hospital this week! Lovely to know that he was spreading his germs around for weeks!!

[mypatch]

hungary1968-15 YOUR THE DIGBAT!

[manny781]

I think by not closing the border you're allowing Mexicans to come to the US to fill up our hospitals and receive free care courtesy of the US taxpayers! Their hospitals are turning people away, seems pretty obvious that their next move will be coming here.

[httpwwwnews]

We're surprised this calamity didn't start in China like everything else lately!!!!

[hungry1968-15]

They just reported that "communion" is going to be temporarily stopped at some churches to help thwart the outbreak.

ONE - if this really is a pandemic / the end of the world, won't you dingbats need your communion more than ever?

TWO - if there really is a god, wouldn't he allow the dingbats to get their communion, while "keeping them safe"?

[mrs_entity]

You just never know what to believe but I personally think it is a real threat. It is always something. We are living in the Last Days.
Posted by CMancos at 2:51 AM : Apr 30, 2009
=================================
Absolutley. I always have my best clothes ready in case I am about to meet Jesus.