CDC working to stem deadly swine flu

U.S. health officials are working with public health agencies in Mexico and Canada to combat a previously unknown strain of swine flu. More than 60 people in Mexico, were the disease was first identified, have died of swine flu since cases emerged in late March, according to the World Health Organization.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that eight people from the border states of Texas and California have since contracted swine flu.

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None of the people have died, CDC officials say. Mexico sent 14 respiratory samples of the virus to the CDC; seven of the samples were identical to the virus strain found in the U.S. cases.

Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s interim deputy director for science and public health, said more cases are expected.

“We’re trying to take action early before it gets worse,” Schuchat told reporters in a telephone conference call Saturday from the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters. She said all of the U.S. cases so far have been mild and only one person have been hospitalized.

“It’s time to prepare and to think ahead, and time to be ready for some uncertainty, and to know that the public health and clinical communities are working together on this across countries’ lines.”

Swine flu is a type of respiratory virus similar to the flu in humans, but affects only pigs. Human cases of swine flu develop in people who are around pigs, but it can spread from person to person.

The strain of virus in Mexico has not been seen before and is resistant to antiviral drugs, according to WHO. The CDC has determined it to be contagious and the world organization has expressed concerns that the outbreak could spread globally.

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• RESOURCE: Swineflucare.net.