[Rors]

Officials unleash drug arsenal as flu toll rises

AFP, 27/04/09

MEXICO CITY (AFP) – World health officials Monday boosted moves to combat deadly swine flu releasing millions of antiviral drugs as the first cases were found in Europe and the likely Mexican death toll leapt to 149.

The number of confirmed cases in the United States doubled to 40 and Britain and Spain recorded their first swine flu victims, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the new multi-strain virus risked triggering a global pandemic.

"We are concerned that this virus could cause a new influenza pandemic. It could be mild in its effect or potentially be severe," Ban told reporters.

"We don't know yet which way it will go but we are concerned that in Mexico most of those who died were young and healthy adults."

Influenza caused three epidemics during the 20th century, the worst being the Spanish flu between 1918 and 1919 which killed at least 40 million people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Mexico, which was rocked by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake on Monday, said the number of confirmed and suspected deaths from the flu had now risen as other countries urged against non-essential travel to the tourism hotspot.

"There are 149 who have died that we're investigating to allow us to confirm" that they meet the strict criteria that defines swine flu, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said. More than 1,600 people are believed to have been sickened by the disease.

Europe's first confirmed case was reported in Spain, while two people were found to be ill with the disease in Britain and dozens more suspected cases were being checked in seven EU states.

Although the United States government has declared a public health emergency with 40 cases in five states, US President Barack Obama urged people to stay calm.

The swine flu outbreak "requires a heightened state of alert, but it is not a cause for alarm," he told a gathering of the National Academy of Sciences.

Richard Besser, acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the affected states of New York, Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California and others were receiving 11 million courses of antiviral drugs.

"Of the 40 cases, we are only aware of one individual who was hospitalized, and all people who have been infected and were sick have recovered," Besser said, adding that those affected ranged from seven to 54 years old.

"So the good news is we haven't identified it in additional states. But I wouldn't put too much on that," Besser said, stressing that further nationwide testing would likely unearth more cases in the next week.

"This virus is acting like a flu virus, and flu viruses spread from person to person."
Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said it was ready to send out more stocks of Tamiflu, some 220 million doses of which are in the hands of governments worldwide.

British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline also said it was "urgently" investigating how to boost production of its antiviral drug Relenza, as a race to develop a direct vaccine for H1N1 strain gathered pace.

The European Union called an emergency meeting of health ministers and advised against non-essential travel to areas where the deadly virus has surfaced. The US was also to issue an advisory warning against "non-essential travel" to Mexico.

But Besser rejected an EU warning that appeared to call on Europeans to avoid travel to the United States and Mexico.

"Based on the situation in the United States right now, I think it's quite premature to put travel restrictions on people coming to the United States," he said.

Spain is watching 20 suspected cases and Britain 17 while there were five suspicious cases in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, plus four in France and one in Italy.

Nine people each in New Zealand and Colombia, plus one each in Brazil and Peru were under observation with flu symptoms, while in the Middle East, a 26-year-old Israeli was also hospitalized.

The WHO has warned that the swine flu strain -- apparently born out of a mix of human and avian flu viruses that infected pigs -- could become a pandemic and called for all nations to "intensify surveillance." The virus particles can be spread through coughs and sneezes. Victims report fevers, coughs and headaches.

The outbreak of swine flu spread fear of economic contagion through financial markets and the travel sector, with losses in European and Asian markets attributed in part to fears of swine flu.