Swine Flu: World Latest
Posted April 29, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As officials in Ontario study at least 20 more patients who could have the swine flu, there have been new developments on the illness front around the world. Here’s an overview of the latest:
Mexico: At the epicentre of the outbreak, there have now been 159 deaths and more than 2,500 cases. Of those, at least 1,300 are in hospital. Life is anything but normal in Mexico City, as schools remain closed. Many parents were forced to take their kids to work with them, because they had no other place to leave them.
Theatres, restaurants and other public venues are off limits, and so are many tourist areas, now largely without visitors. The ruins of the Mayan and Aztec pyramids are closed until further notice. Masks remain the accessory of the day.
Spain: One of the places outside of Mexico where the ailment originally turned up has also scored another feared first. Officials believe they have the first case of transmission to a person who had not been to the stricken nation. That’s one of the key components of a possible pandemic.
U.S: A 23-month-old child who came to Houston from Mexico for treatment of swine flu died on Wednesday. President Barack Obama was warned it may be necessary to close schools in hard hit areas, to keep the disease from spreading.
Germany And Austria: Both countries reported their first cases on Wednesday, as the disease has now spread to at least nine nations.
France: Plans to ask the European Union to ban all flights to Mexico, following the lead of Cuba and Argentina, which ushered in the prohibitions on Tuesday. The EU has joined the U.S. and Canada in issuing a warning about non-essential travel to Mexico, but there’s no official ban yet.
Egypt: Despite the fact the flu can’t be spread by eating pork, the country has ordered some 300,000 pigs to be slaughtered.
