Flu Risk Spreads; New Cases Confirmed
猪流感确诊病例的数量周二继续增加，并已扩散至中东和亚太地区，世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)也将全球警报的等级又上调了一级。美国疾病预防控制中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)说，美国确诊病例的数量已上升至64例，其中包括许多住院治疗者。该中心一位官员此前曾说，只有一人住院治疗。据美联社报导，一位政府官员说，白宫将要求15亿美元拨款，以应对猪流感疫情。新西兰周二说，不久前从墨西哥返回的几人感染了猪流感，而西班牙和以色列说，在它们的国家也发现了确诊和疑似病例。大多数已确诊的猪流感患者都是在墨西哥感染的，墨西哥全国确认和疑似死于猪流感的人数已超过150人。但WHO发言人哈特尔(Gregory Hartl)周二在日内瓦说，事实证明墨西哥之外地区的人员能够将猪流感传染给其他人，这就表明病毒从来自墨西哥的游客中向外扩散。WHO周二还说，全球范围内经实验室确诊的猪流感病例为79例，其中7人死亡。除墨西哥之外，猪流感已至少扩散至六个国家，这促使WHO周一将全球流感大流行警报级别从3级调高到了4级。这种调整相当于承认新的A/H1N1病毒能够在人与人之间传播，也是政府应为疫情爆发做准备的信号。6级为最高级，即疫情在全球范围爆发。墨西哥城的市长埃夫拉德(Marcelo Ebrard)下令关闭所有健身馆运动俱乐部游泳池和台球馆，将关闭的范围从原有的学校国营影剧院和其它公共场所进一步扩大。餐馆也只允许提供外卖。该市正在评估是否继续开放每天客流量高达500万人的一条地铁系统。周二，包括加拿大和以色列在内的多个国家警告公民应该避免非必要的赴墨西哥旅游。欧盟卫生事务负责人建议，欧洲人也应该避免非必要的赴墨西哥和美国部分地区的旅游。据美联社报导，古巴表示将对往返墨西哥的航班实行48小时禁飞令。俄罗斯香港和台湾则表示，将对出现猪流感症状的旅客进行隔离。仍对以前流感爆发记忆犹新的亚洲国家政府对此尤其小心。新加坡泰国日本印尼和菲律宾把2003年非典型肺炎危机时期使用过的 温检测仪拿了出来，检查来自北美地区的乘客是否有发热症状。韩国印度和印尼还宣布进行筛查。日本厚生劳动省官员Akimori Mizuguchi说，由医生护士和政府官员组成的小组登上从墨西哥美国和加拿大飞抵日本的航班，检查乘客是否有猪流感症状。卫生官员尤其留意中国的状况，中国13亿的庞大人口和数亿外来务工人员使得任何抗击可能疫情的努力都变得尤其困难。到目前为止，官员们一直强调，中国尚未出现 诊或疑似病例。中国西部地区的一位卫生官员周二说，当地一所学校爆发了B型流感，不是高致病性猪流感，学校随后关闭，。当日早些时候，世界卫生组织表示，关闭学校和检测猪流感的措施证明中国在疾病监控和国际合作上有所改善。此前，中国政府对禽流感和非典型肺炎的处理不力，初期时隐瞒疫情，这次政府从中汲取了教训。世界卫生组织驻华代表韩卓升(Hans Troedsson)在新闻发布会上说，中国做好了充分准备。泰国公共卫生部称，对一位疑似感染了猪流感的女性进行的初步检测显示，她没有染病，不过正在进行进一步的检测以确证。印度表示，将开始筛查来自美英等6个国家的入境旅客。孟买和班加罗尔机场的管理人士周二说，也在来自墨西哥加拿大法国新西兰的航班抵达时对乘客进行了检测，检查任何可能的猪流感迹象。Betsy McKay / Gautam Naik（更新完成）相关阅读美国已有40个 诊人患猪流感病例 2009-04-28猪流感恐慌加剧全球经济困境 2009-04-28世卫组织提高猪流感大流行警告级别 2009-04-28亚洲吸取以往教训 积极迎战猪流感 2009-04-28
The number of confirmed cases of a deadly new flu strain continued to rise Tuesday, reaching to the Middle East and Asian-Pacific regions, as the World Health Organization moved one step closer to declaring a pandemic.In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of confirmed U.S. cases has risen to 64, including 'a number of hospitalizations.' CDC officials earlier had said there had been just one person hospitalized. And an administration official said the White House will request $1.5 billion to combat the flu, according to the Associated Press.New Zealand said Tuesday that several people who had recently returned from Mexico had contracted the virus, while Spain and Israel have said they also have cases.Most people confirmed with the swine flu were infected in Mexico, where the number of deaths blamed on the virus surpassed 150. But confirmation that people have been infecting others in locations outside Mexico would indicate that the virus was spreading beyond travelers returning from Mexico, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said Tuesday in Geneva. WHO also said Tuesday that there are 79 cases world-wide of swine flu confirmed by laboratories, and seven deaths.The swine flu already has spread to at least six countries besides Mexico, which prompted the United Nations public-health agency on Monday to raise its global alert to phase 4 from phase 3. The change recognizes that the new A/H1N1 virus spreads from person to person and signals that governments should prepare for outbreaks. Phase 6 is a pandemic.Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard ordered gyms, sports clubs, swimming pools and pool halls closed, extending a shutdown that already included schools, state-run theaters and other public places. Restaurants were ordered to serve only take-out food. The city was evaluating whether to keep open a subway system that provides five million trips a day.Tuesday, countries including Canada and Israel warned their citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico. The European Union health commissioner suggested that Europeans also avoid nonessential travel both to Mexico and parts of the U.S. And Cuba said it would impose a 48-hour ban on flights to and from Mexico, the AP reported.Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said they would quarantine visitors showing symptoms of the virus.Governments in Asia -- with memories of previous flu outbreaks -- were especially cautious. Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines dusted off thermal scanners used in the 2003 SARS crisis and were checking for signs of fever among passengers from North America. South Korea, India and Indonesia also announced screening.Teams of doctors, nurses and government officials boarded flights arriving in Japan from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada to check passengers for signs of the flu, Japanese Health Ministry official Akimori Mizuguchi said.Health officials are keeping an especially wary eye on China, whose huge population of 1.3 billion and hundreds of millions of migrant workers make battling any potential outbreak especially difficult. So far, officials have stressed that there have been no confirmed or probable cases in China.A school in western China was shut down after an outbreak of Type B influenza, a local health official said Tuesday, not the more lethal swine flu.Earlier in the day, the WHO had cited the school closure and testing for swine flu as evidence of China's better monitoring and international cooperation -- lessons from the blundered handling of the earlier avian flu and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic, which was marred by an initial government coverup.'China is quite well prepared,' Hans Troedsson, the WHO's top official in China, said at a news briefing.Thailand's public-health ministry said initial tests on a woman suspected of contracting swine flu indicate she doesn't have the disease, but they are testing her further to be sure.India said it would start screening incoming travelers from six countries, including the U.S. and the U.K. Passengers from Mexico, Canada, France and New Zealand also were to be examined on arrival to check for any possible sign of the swine flu, executives at the Mumbai and Bangalore airports said Tuesday.Betsy McKay / Gautam Naik
The number of confirmed cases of a deadly new flu strain continued to rise Tuesday, reaching to the Middle East and Asian-Pacific regions, as the World Health Organization moved one step closer to declaring a pandemic.In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of confirmed U.S. cases has risen to 64, including 'a number of hospitalizations.' CDC officials earlier had said there had been just one person hospitalized. And an administration official said the White House will request $1.5 billion to combat the flu, according to the Associated Press.New Zealand said Tuesday that several people who had recently returned from Mexico had contracted the virus, while Spain and Israel have said they also have cases.Most people confirmed with the swine flu were infected in Mexico, where the number of deaths blamed on the virus surpassed 150. But confirmation that people have been infecting others in locations outside Mexico would indicate that the virus was spreading beyond travelers returning from Mexico, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said Tuesday in Geneva. WHO also said Tuesday that there are 79 cases world-wide of swine flu confirmed by laboratories, and seven deaths.The swine flu already has spread to at least six countries besides Mexico, which prompted the United Nations public-health agency on Monday to raise its global alert to phase 4 from phase 3. The change recognizes that the new A/H1N1 virus spreads from person to person and signals that governments should prepare for outbreaks. Phase 6 is a pandemic.Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard ordered gyms, sports clubs, swimming pools and pool halls closed, extending a shutdown that already included schools, state-run theaters and other public places. Restaurants were ordered to serve only take-out food. The city was evaluating whether to keep open a subway system that provides five million trips a day.Tuesday, countries including Canada and Israel warned their citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico. The European Union health commissioner suggested that Europeans also avoid nonessential travel both to Mexico and parts of the U.S. And Cuba said it would impose a 48-hour ban on flights to and from Mexico, the AP reported.Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said they would quarantine visitors showing symptoms of the virus.Governments in Asia -- with memories of previous flu outbreaks -- were especially cautious. Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines dusted off thermal scanners used in the 2003 SARS crisis and were checking for signs of fever among passengers from North America. South Korea, India and Indonesia also announced screening.Teams of doctors, nurses and government officials boarded flights arriving in Japan from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada to check passengers for signs of the flu, Japanese Health Ministry official Akimori Mizuguchi said.Health officials are keeping an especially wary eye on China, whose huge population of 1.3 billion and hundreds of millions of migrant workers make battling any potential outbreak especially difficult. So far, officials have stressed that there have been no confirmed or probable cases in China.A school in western China was shut down after an outbreak of Type B influenza, a local health official said Tuesday, not the more lethal swine flu.Earlier in the day, the WHO had cited the school closure and testing for swine flu as evidence of China's better monitoring and international cooperation -- lessons from the blundered handling of the earlier avian flu and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic, which was marred by an initial government coverup.'China is quite well prepared,' Hans Troedsson, the WHO's top official in China, said at a news briefing.Thailand's public-health ministry said initial tests on a woman suspected of contracting swine flu indicate she doesn't have the disease, but they are testing her further to be sure.India said it would start screening incoming travelers from six countries, including the U.S. and the U.K. Passengers from Mexico, Canada, France and New Zealand also were to be examined on arrival to check for any possible sign of the swine flu, executives at the Mumbai and Bangalore airports said Tuesday.Betsy McKay / Gautam Naik