Developments on swine flu worldwide

[Guest guest]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hZVkRqV2uZVim0TRk5R1ZBfovTCAD9\

7UGQSG0

Developments on swine flu worldwide

By The Associated Press – 1 hour ago

Key developments on swine flu outbreaks, according to Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and government officials:

_Deaths: 19 confirmed in Mexico and one confirmed in U.S., a 21-month-old boy

from Mexico who died in Texas.

_Confirmed sickened worldwide, 790: 454 in Mexico; 197 in U.S.; 85 in Canada; 15

in Spain; 15 in Britain; six in Germany; four in New Zealand; two in Israel,

France and South Korea; one each in Costa Rica, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland,

Austria, Hong Kong, Denmark and the Netherlands.

_U.S. confirmed cases: New York 50; Texas 28; California 24; Arizona 17; South

Carolina 13; Delaware 10; Massachusetts eight; New Jersey seven; Maine six;

Wisconsin three; Ohio three; Indiana three; Illinois three; Kansas two; Colorado

two; Virginia two; Michigan two; Missouri two; Connecticut two; Florida two; New

Hampshire one; Utah one; Rhode Island one; Iowa one; Kentucky one; Minnesota

one; Nebraska one; Nevada one.

_President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon spoke for 20

minutes Saturday by phone " to share information about each country's efforts to

limit the spread " of the flu strain, the White House says.

_The World Health Organization says it has sent 2.4 million treatments of

anti-flu drug Tamiflu to 72 developing countries, taking the drugs from a

stockpile donated by Roche Holding AG.

_U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about a third of the

confirmed U.S. cases of swine flu are people who had been to Mexico and likely

picked up the infection there.

_ Mexico has taken extraordinary measures against the epidemic, ordering all

nonessential government and private businesses to shut down for five days.

_The U.S. government says schools with confirmed cases should close for at least

14 days because children can be contagious for seven to 10 days from when they

get sick. More than 430 U.S. schools had closed, affecting about 245,000

children in 18 states.

_Chicago Public Schools officials say students who come to school with a cough

and fever starting Monday will be sent home and required to stay there for at

least seven days.

_Mexican Foreign Minister Espinosa complained that China had isolated

several Mexicans without reason — and urged Mexicans not to travel to China

until the situation was resolved.

_All 176 weekend soccer games in Mexico — from the first division to the lowly

third — were shuttered to fans. The games went on behind closed doors.

_The U.N. and World Trade Organization say there's no justification for any

anti-pork trade measures as a result of the swine flu epidemic since there is no

evidence the virus is spread by food.

_Pigs on a Canadian farm have been infected with the new swine flu virus —

apparently by a farm worker back from Mexico — and are under quarantine,

officials say. It is the first known case of pigs having the virus.

_U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Canada has taken the necessary

precautions to prevent the spread of the disease. He said there have been no

reports of the virus in U.S. pigs and noted the sick Canadian swine have been

quarantined.

_Hong Kong, where severe acute respiratory syndrome killed 299 in 2003, ordered

a week-long quarantine of a downtown hotel where a Mexican tourist was confirmed

to have the illness, trapping 350 guests and employees inside.

_The U.S. Meat Export Federation, which represents pork and beef interests

abroad, estimates that U.S. pork exports have dropped about 10 percent since the

swine flu scare started.

On the Net:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.