Word: viruses
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...swine-flu virus continued its gradual global march on Tuesday, prompting countries to strengthen efforts to stem its spread, while President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 billion in supplementary spending to prepare for a possible swine-flu pandemic and installed the newly confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to help lead the fight against the disease. In the U.S., the caseload rose to 67 across five states - 45 of them in New York City, where health officials are investigating two new possible outbreaks at city schools - with more virus samples awaiting laboratory confirmation. New Zealand...
Several countries tightened border controls and discouraged travel to affected areas - Cuba suspended all flights to and from Mexico - but the World Health Organization kept the pandemic alert level at Phase 4, still two phases below a full pandemic. Outside Mexico, the apparent epicenter of the A/H1N1 virus, there have been no deaths confirmed from the flu and relatively few hospitalizations, and health officials continued to preach the need for a calm response. "What we see in the United States, or have been seeing so far, has been milder," said Richard Besser, the acting director for the Centers for Disease...
...more cases and we expect to report on them," says Besser. "As this moves forward, I fully expect that we will see deaths from this infection." [Update: On Wednesday morning, Besser confirmed the death of a 23-month-old child in Texas from swine flu, the first virus-related death outside Mexico...
...rest of the world. More than 2,000 suspected swine-flu cases have been reported in several Mexican states, with more than 150 deaths. Those numbers are still preliminary and are expected to rise as blood samples from Mexican patients continue to be tested for the A/H1N1 swine-flu virus. Lack of laboratory capacity to run the time-consuming blood tests has so far held up the confirmation of cases there...
...Tuesday the government of Mexico City ordered gyms, discos, theaters and all sit-down restaurants (excluding those that serve only take-out) closed until at least May 6, in an effort to limit public gatherings and the spread of the virus. As epidemiologists swarm the country in an effort to trace the virus's spread, the big question remains: Why is the disease seemingly so much more deadly in Mexico than anywhere else? "This will be the object of a great deal of research and attention," said Keiji Fukuda, the interim director-general for health, safety and environment...