Asian health officials went on alert yesterday as a flu strain that has killed up to 81 people in Mexico appeared to have spread to New Zealand, underscoring warnings of a potential pandemic.
Governments across the region, which has in recent years been at the forefront of the SARS and bird flu epidemics, stepped up checks at airports and urged the public to be on guard for symptoms of the new multi-strain flu.
Mexicans took new precautions yesterday amid fears that the flu epidemic could reach “pandemic” proportions. Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova raised the probable death toll from the new multi-strain swine flu in Mexico to 81, including 20 already confirmed.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Earlier, Mexican President Felipe Calderon published an order giving his government extraordinary powers to tackle the deadly outbreak, as at least two new cases were reported in the US, bringing the total infected there to 10.
“This virus has clearly a pandemic potential,” WHO Director General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) said on Saturday.
The Geneva-based UN agency branded the outbreak “a public health emergency of international concern,” following a meeting of its emergency committee. In a statement it said it was recommending that all nations “intensify surveillance for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.”
In Taipei, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued an outbreak notice listing Mexico’s alert level “epidemic.” California and Texas in the US were listed as “limited clustering” areas.
“The priority is to prohibit the disease from entering the country,” Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director Shih Wen-yi (施文儀) said.
“Visitors from Mexico and the United States, including homecoming Taiwanese, found to have fever and flu symptoms will be sent to special hospitals for isolation, pending virus inspection,” Shih said.
The centers have also notified airlines to pay special attention to passengers’ health. It said it is keeping a close watch on the situation through the WHO. Officials warned those traveling to the US and Mexico to take special precautions by frequently washing their hands, wearing face masks and avoiding coming into contact with people who appear to be sick. If symptoms such as diarrhea fever, coughing or body aches occur, consult a doctor immediately.
In Mexico, 13 new suspect cases were reported in the past 24 hours and a total of 1,324 patients with flu symptoms were under investigation, Cordova said.
Officials have canceled hundreds of public events and closed schools for millions of students in and around the capital. Sunday mass was suspended in Catholic churches throughout the country.
Mexico City authorities have said they had more than 1 million doses of suitable antiviral drugs, in an urban area of some 20 million. The government also assured citizens it had “sufficient” funds reaching US$450 million to combat the epidemic.
Kansas authorities confirmed two cases of swine flu on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the US to at least 10.
In Wellington, New Zealand Health Minister Tony Ryall said 10 teenagers who had recently traveled to Mexico have tested positive for influenza and are “likely” to have contracted swine flu.
Ryall said samples from the infected students had been sent to a WHO laboratory in Melbourne to determine whether they had contracted H1N1 swine influenza. They already tested positive for influenza A, of which swine flu is a sub-set.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY HUANG
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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