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LATEST NEWS
h/t to Sven Triloquist @ET
LA GLORIA, Mexico (Guardian) – Mexican village whose inhabitants were overwhelmed by an outbreak of respiratory illness starting in February has emerged as a possible source of the swine flu outbreak which has now spread across the world.
The state government of Veracruz in eastern Mexico has confirmed one case of swine flu in the village of La Gloria with the sufferer named locally as a four-year-old boy, Edgar Hernandez Hernandez.
The boy’s case earlier this month came amid an outbreak of respiratory illness in the area in which around 400 people requested medical help. The boy was treated in hospital and survived. But two babies from the same village died during the outbreak.
SMITHFIELD SUBSIDIARY GRANJAS-CARROLL
Early today the US owner of an industrial pig production facility around 12 miles from La Gloria said it had found no clinical signs or symptoms of swine flu in its herd or Mexican employees. The world’s biggest pig meat producer, Virginia-based Smithfield, said it is co-operating with the Mexican authorities’ attempts to locate the possible source of the outbreak and will submit samples from its herds at its Granjas Carroll subsidiary to the University of Mexico for tests.
“Based on available recent information, Smithfield has no reason to believe that the virus is in any way connected to its operations in Mexico,” it said in a statement. “The company also noted that its joint ventures in Mexico routinely administer influenza virus vaccination to their swine herds and conduct monthly tests for the presence of swine influenza.”
“According to state agents of the Mexican social security institute, the vector of this outbreak are the clouds of flies that come out of the hog barns, and the waste lagoons into which the Mexican-US company spews tons of excrement,” reported Mexico City newspaper La Jornada.
Swine flu can be caught through contact with infected animals, but it is unclear if contact with flies or excrement has the same effect.
(Huffington Post) – Smithfield and Granjas Carroll have agreed to adopt government recommendations to “begin reinforcing its biosecurity measures to prevent workers and animals from being infected, the newspaper Reforma said.
Reforma also reported that Villagers in La Gloria are being threatened, harassed and even jailed for speaking out against the hog giant.
BERLIN, Germany (DW-World) – In Mexico, the likely death toll from the virus now stands at more than 150. Authorities have taken the step of closing schools across the country until May 6 in a bid to stop the spread of the disease, which has reportedly infected more than 1,600 2,000 people there.
In the European Union, Spanish authorities confirmed the first case of swine flu in the 27-nation bloc – a 23 year-old-man who had just returned from Mexico harbors the new viral strain, but otherwise appears healthy.
The EU has also called for an emergency meeting of health ministers and advised against non-essential trips to areas where the deadly virus has surfaced.
In Spain, some 20 people are under observation, while dozens of suspected cases have cropped up in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, France, Italy and Greece.
Holiday flight from Manchester to Cancun, Mexico cancelled.
Case of swine flu confirmed in Israel.
TORONTO, Canada (Globe and Mail) — The spread of the swine flu virus across continents can no longer be stopped, and countries should instead look to mitigate its impact, the World Health Organization said as it raised the pandemic alert level for the first time on Monday.
The new H1N1 flu strain has moved rapidly from its epicentre in Mexico, prompting governments to advise against travel to the country. Canada is considering issuing an advisory warning against non-essential travel to Mexico.
“There is no region to which this virus could not spread,” said Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s acting assistant director-general for health security and environment.
“Given the rapidly evolving situation, it was important to send a strong signal to countries that now is a good time to strengthen preparation for possible pandemic influenza if it continues to evolve in that direction.”
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The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 had a mortality rate of 2% … 25-50 million died. It started as a mild influenza illness, but returned in a deadly form tin the fall of 1918. People had no anti-bodies to the new virus and died in great numbers.
The Mexican government have mismanaged the response to the new A/ H1N1 flu outbreak by insufficient treatment and surveillance. Even the number of deaths due to the new virus cannot be substantiated due to lack of laboratory tests.
The WHO has been releasing the official numbers for deaths and cases worldwide: 79 swine flu cases confirmed around world. Most of the confirmed cases are from lab tests in the U.S. In Mexico the unconfirmed numbers are 2,000 cases and 152 deaths. Making some statistical assumptions, with a mortality rate of 0.5% and likely number of deaths due to the swine virus of 50, this calculates to number of cases somewhere near 10,000 in Mexico. Similar to the outbreak of SARS in China, the flu outbreak in Mexico started much earlier this year and had time to spread across the nation. Fortunately, the symptons of illness come quickly with an incubation period of a few days. After catching the virus, the period one is contagious is about a week, for infants this period is approximately two weeks.
The reason it appears the flu is of a milder form elsewhere is statistically incorrect. After the first 200 cases there should be some deaths occurring elsewhere in the world. The WHO has admitted the flu virus cannot be contained. The countries with adequate medical facilities and supply of anti-viral drugs will limit the number of cases and further transmission of humans to humans. It won’t be over for some time, however vaccination should be possible in time for the return of the flu pandemic this fall.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
Two deaths in Southern California may be due to swine flu, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.
The Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site that tests are being conducted and no official cause of death has been determined.
However, a spokesman for the county coroner told the newspaper that the death of a 33-year-old Long Beach man came after he had swine flu symptoms. Doctors disagnosed him with pneumonia.
The second death also involved pneumonia. Doctors said a 45-year-old man from La Mirada died last Wednesday at a hospital in Norwalk, but the county health department refused to sign the death certificate and wanted to investigate further.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I don’t believe Smithfield; not for one second.
“Based on available recent information, Smithfield has no reason to believe that the virus is in any way connected to its operations in Mexico…”
how convenient Smithfield comes out with this bogus statement within days of the outbreak, and minus any sort of full investigation of their operations in Mexico.
wish I was close to their pig farm with a camera.. I’m betting they got one hundred guys scurrying around cleaning up the mess– before U.S. inspectors come in.. IF they even do an inspection.
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Five-year-old Edgar Hernandez started feeling unwell in late March, suffering fever, headache and a very sore throat.
Edgar was not alone. Several hundred people in his home village of La Gloria, near Perote in the Mexican state of Veracruz had also been sick with a respiratory disease, some falling ill back in December.
At the time, doctors told Edgar’s mother, Maria del Carmen Hernandez, that it was just a regular cold.
FACTS FROM EARLIER REPORTS
The result of the test was never told to the Hernandez family. They learned of the swine flu result when it was broadcast on television and their son was mentioned. The local people have suffered illness over a longer period and employees at the pig farm have quit because of it. The stench of the containment reservoir is unbearable. The farms are located just 8 km (5 mi.) outside the village of La Gloria. Up to 60% of the villagers contracted a cold with flu symptoms earlier this year. No tests were performed and only one swab of Edgar at the hospital could be recovered when the swine flu was diagnosed elsewhere. The Mexican government is denying the facts of the outbreak and cannot be trusted for the data on cases and deaths. In the village of La Gloria, two infants died from pneumonia. The Mexican government isn’t interested in the true cause of death and refuse to exhume the bodies. The local people have been threatened not to talk to journalists. In the ABC VIDEO broadcast on BBC News, the single medical assisitent or nurse in the village was not permitted to continue the interview.
The stench is not just from the pig farm and its containment reservoirs.
Smithfield subsidiary Granjas-Carroll
≈ Crossposted from my new diary — CDC: Infant Dies from Flu in Texas ≈
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."