HEALTH Dozens in Mexican city ill with suspected avian flu/2007 articles

Globalresearch is saying it could be avian flu
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Dozens in Mexican city ill with suspected avian flu
Raises concerns over international implications of epidemic

Global Research, September 28, 2007
WorldNetDaily.com


http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6928

Dozens of people in a Mexican city are gravely ill with what is being treated as a possible outbreak of avian flu, according to a new report from a Spanish-language website.

According to El Universal, authorities in a neighborhood in Guanajuato say 45 patients have been given medical attention at the area's hospital after they reported symptoms including extreme headaches, stomachaches, vomiting and diarrhea.

The cases have developed over the last two weeks and "feel [like] death," according to Silvia Villalobos, one of the victims who spoke to El Universal correspondent Xochitl Alvarez in Spanish.

A spokesman for the regional general hospital, Ernesto Castle, said he does not know the cause of the problems, but officials are looking at an avian flu virus, which is transmitted by birds and is similar to botulism, as a source.

He reported at least 45 patients have been given emergency room medical attention, while others went to their private physicians for help.

One man reported his wife was hospitalized after the symptoms hit, waking her with fever and chills, before she fainted.

Guadalupe Gomez, a resident of the area, said her concern was that the epidemic was being carried by flies attracted by leather processed in the tanning industry, which includes leathers from other nations.

City spokesman Jose Eusebio Olague said officials have directed that barricades be set up so the sick do not spread the infections even further.

Traditional causes for fever and chills essentially have been ruled out by various tests, officials said. Sources in the air, water and other industries have been eliminated as a cause, officials said.

This type of threat was addressed at the recent Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America summit in Canada, where officials released a plan that establishes U.N. law along with regulations by the World Trade Organization and World Health Organization as supreme over U.S. law during a pandemic. It also sets the stage for militarizing the management of continental health emergencies.

The "North American Plan for Avian & Pandemic Influenza" was finalized at the SPP summit last month in Montebello, Quebec.

At the same time, the U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, has created a webpage dedicated to avian flu and has been running exercises in preparation for the possible use of U.S. military forces in a continental domestic emergency involving avian flu or pandemic influenza.

With virtually no media attention, in 2005 President Bush shifted U.S. policy on avian flu and pandemic influenza, placing the country under international guidelines not specifically determined by domestic agencies.

The policy shift was formalized Sept. 14, 2005, when Bush announced a new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza to a High-Level Plenary Meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, in New York.

The new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza was designed to supersede an earlier November 2005 Homeland Security report that called for a U.S. national strategy that would be coordinated by the Departments of Homeland Security, Health and Agriculture.

The 2005 plan, operative until Bush announced the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, directed the State Department to work with the WHO and U.N., but it does not mention that international health controls are to be considered controlling over relevant U.S. statutes or authorities.

Under the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, Bush agreed the U.S. would work through the U.N. system influenza coordinator to develop a continental emergency response plan operating through authorities under the WTO, North American Free Trade Agreement and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

The SPP plan for avian and pandemic influenza announced at the Canadian summit last month embraces the international control principles Bush first announced to the U.N. in his 2005 International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza declaration. David Nabarro is new U.N. system influenza coordinator

In Sept. 2005, Dr. David Nabarro was appointed the first U.N. system influenza coordinator, a position which also places him as a senior policy adviser to the U.N. director-general.

Nabarro soon after fueled the global fear that an epidemic was virtually inevitable.

In response to a question about the 1918-1919 flu pandemic that killed approximately 40 million people worldwide, Nabarro commented, "I am certain there will be another pandemic sometime."

Nabarro stressed at the press conference that he saw as inevitable a worldwide pandemic influenza coming soon that would kill millions

Dozens in Mexican city ill with suspected avian flu

Dozens in Mexican city ill with suspected avian flu
Raises concerns over international implications of epidemic

Posted: September 28, 2007
1:00 am Eastern

© 2009 WorldNetDaily.com


http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57868

Dozens of people in a Mexican city are gravely ill with what is being treated as a possible outbreak of avian flu, according to a new report from a Spanish-language website.

According to El Universal, authorities in a neighborhood in Guanajuato say 45 patients have been given medical attention at the area's hospital after they reported symptoms including extreme headaches, stomachaches, vomiting and diarrhea.

The cases have developed over the last two weeks and "feel [like] death," according to Silvia Villalobos, one of the victims who spoke to El Universal correspondent Xochitl Alvarez in Spanish.


A spokesman for the regional general hospital, Ernesto Castle, said he does not know the cause of the problems, but officials are looking at an avian flu virus, which is transmitted by birds and is similar to botulism, as a source.

He reported at least 45 patients have been given emergency room medical attention, while others went to their private physicians for help.

One man reported his wife was hospitalized after the symptoms hit, waking her with fever and chills, before she fainted.

Guadalupe Gomez, a resident of the area, said her concern was that the epidemic was being carried by flies attracted by leather processed in the tanning industry, which includes leathers from other nations.

City spokesman Jose Eusebio Olague said officials have directed that barricades be set up so the sick do not spread the infections even further.

Traditional causes for fever and chills essentially have been ruled out by various tests, officials said. Sources in the air, water and other industries have been eliminated as a cause, officials said.

This type of threat was addressed at the recent Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America summit in Canada, where officials released a plan that establishes U.N. law along with regulations by the World Trade Organization and World Health Organization as supreme over U.S. law during a pandemic. It also sets the stage for militarizing the management of continental health emergencies.

The "North American Plan for Avian & Pandemic Influenza" was finalized at the SPP summit last month in Montebello, Quebec.

At the same time, the U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, has created a webpage dedicated to avian flu and has been running exercises in preparation for the possible use of U.S. military forces in a continental domestic emergency involving avian flu or pandemic influenza.

With virtually no media attention, in 2005 President Bush shifted U.S. policy on avian flu and pandemic influenza, placing the country under international guidelines not specifically determined by domestic agencies.

The policy shift was formalized Sept. 14, 2005, when Bush announced a new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza to a High-Level Plenary Meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, in New York.

The new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza was designed to supersede an earlier November 2005 Homeland Security report that called for a U.S. national strategy that would be coordinated by the Departments of Homeland Security, Health and Agriculture.

The 2005 plan, operative until Bush announced the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, directed the State Department to work with the WHO and U.N., but it does not mention that international health controls are to be considered controlling over relevant U.S. statutes or authorities.

Under the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, Bush agreed the U.S. would work through the U.N. system influenza coordinator to develop a continental emergency response plan operating through authorities under the WTO, North American Free Trade Agreement and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

The SPP plan for avian and pandemic influenza announced at the Canadian summit last month embraces the international control principles Bush first announced to the U.N. in his 2005 International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza declaration.
David Nabarro is new U.N. system influenza coordinator

In Sept. 2005, Dr. David Nabarro was appointed the first U.N. system influenza coordinator, a position which also places him as a senior policy adviser to the U.N. director-general.

Nabarro soon after fueled the global fear that an epidemic was virtually inevitable.

In response to a question about the 1918-1919 flu pandemic that killed approximately 40 million people worldwide, Nabarro commented, "I am certain there will be another pandemic sometime."

Nabarro stressed at the press conference that he saw as inevitable a worldwide pandemic influenza coming soon that would kill millions.

From 2007?

This type of threat was addressed at the recent Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America summit in Canada, where officials released a plan that establishes U.N. law along with regulations by the World Trade Organization and World Health Organization as supreme over U.S. law during a pandemic. It also sets the stage for militarizing the management of continental health emergencies.

The "North American Plan for Avian & Pandemic Influenza" was finalized at the SPP summit last month in Montebello, Quebec.

Click to expand...

The Security and Prosperity Partnership is another name for the North American Union, same people, benign sounding name. I believe the Canadian meeting is the secret get together that was leaked to the press. George Schultz and others were there including George Nethercutt, our former 7th district legislator from eastern WA, 33rd degree Mason. He's doing soundbytes on the local Christian radio station KMBI, the traitor.

Guess this being from 2007 hints that they've been planning this for a few years. It should be a doozie.

The big deal with that is we do fall under the UN or agreed to -- made me pull my hair out then too, there are soooooo many regulations and restrictions during a declared public health emergencies. I'm frequently accused of hating on the Katrina folks, which isn't true, it just changed a lot of things, and that disaster was the first time the new designation was used.

SPP, From California to now New York, originating in Mexico with suspected cases in Canada -- there's a clue how big this is going to be and the umbrella it is going to fall under. Katrina was localized, except the designation covered the states they were transported to as well (for reimbursement of medical expenses), all 50 IIRC.

Most of our planning was on the assumption that this would originate in Asia, giving us a heads-up with some lead time, since that is not the case, and they've already said (current news not 2007) that this can't be contained, that skips a whole lot of options that could have been implemented.

I hope I'm wrong, I really, really do.

Wasn't paying attention to dates on my search as Dissimulo has picked up. But as Flippper has picked up it is a planned event.

This Swine Flu however seems to be a mixed Flu. They are saying below that it contains bird flu.



Swine Flu Baffles Health Experts
Mexico Struggles To Contain Outbreak That May Be Responsible For 60 Deaths
World Health Officials Fear Global Epidemic
CBS News Interactive: HealthwatchATLANTA (AP) ―


http://kdka.com/topstories/swine.flu.texas.2.993316.html

People cover his face with masks to protect themselves from the swine flu virus, in the subway of Mexico city, on April 24, 2009.
Ronaldo Schemidt/Getty Images


numSlides of totalImages Related LinksCDC: Key Facts About Swine Flu
Mexican authorities said 60 people may have died from a swine flu virus in Mexico, and world health officials worry it could unleash a global flu epidemic.

Mexico City closed schools, museums, libraries and state-run theaters across the metropolis Friday in hopes of containing the outbreak that has sickened more than 900.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said tests show some of the Mexico victims died from the same new strain of swine flu that sickened eight people in Texas and California. It's a frightening new strain that combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans.

The World Health Organization was looking closely at the 60 deaths - most of them in or near Mexico's capital. It wasn't yet clear what flu they died from, but spokesman Thomas Abraham said "We are very, very concerned."

"We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human," he said. "It's all hands on deck at the moment."

WHO raised its internal alert system Friday, preparing to divert more money and personnel to dealing with the outbreak.

President Felipe Calderon cancelled a trip and met with his Cabinet to coordinate Mexico's response. The government has 500,000 flu vaccines and planned to administer them to health workers, the highest risk group.

There are no vaccines available for the general public in Mexico, and authorities urged people to avoid hospitals unless they had a medical emergency, since hospitals are centers of infection.

Some Mexican residents have started wearing blue surgical masks for extra protection, reports CBS News correspondent Adrienne Bard. The federal health minister has warned people not to go near anyone with a respiratory infection and to avoid kissing - traditional Mexican greeting.

Authorities at Mexico City's international airport were questioning passengers to try to prevent anybody with possible influenza from boarding airplanes and spreading the disease.

But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Americans need not avoid traveling to Mexico, as long as they take the usual precautions, such as frequent handwashing.

Mexico's Health Secretary, Jose Cordova, said only 16 of the deaths have been confirmed as the new swine flu strain, and that government laboratories were testing samples from 44 other people who died. At least 943 nationwide were sick from the suspected flu, the health department said.

"We certainly have 60 deaths that we can't be sure are from the same virus, but it is probable," Cordova said, adding that samples were sent to the CDC to look for matches with the virus that infected seven people in Texas and California.

Cordova called it a "new, different strain ... that originally came from pigs."

Epidemiologists are particularly concerned because the only people killed so far were normally less-vulnerable young people and adults. It's possible that more vulnerable populations - infants and the aged - had been vaccinated against other strains, and that those vaccines may be providing some protection.

Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC said "at this point, we do not have any confirmations of swine influenza in Mexico" of the kind that sickened seven California and Texas residents. All seven recovered from symptoms that were like those of the regular flu, mostly involving fever, cough and sore throat, though some of the seven also experienced vomiting and diarrhea.

Scientists have long been concerned that a new flu virus could launch a pandemic, a worldwide spread of a killer disease. A new virus could evolve when different flu viruses infect a pig, a person or a bird, mingling their genetic material. The resulting hybrid could spread quickly because people would have no natural defenses against it.

The most notorious flu pandemic is thought to have killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19. Two other, less deadly flu pandemics struck in 1957 and 1968.

Nobody can predict when pandemics will happen. Scientists had been concerned about swine flu in 1976, for example, and some 40 million Americans were vaccinated. No flu pandemic ever appeared, but thousands of vaccinated people filed claims saying they'd suffered a paralyzing condition andother side effects from the shots.

In recent years, scientists have been particularly concerned about birds. There have been deaths from bird flu, mostly in Asia, but the virus has so far been unable to spread from person to person easily enough to touch off a pandemic.

U.S. health officials said the illnesses are not yet a reason for alarm in the United States. The five in California and two in Texas have all recovered, and testing indicates some common antiviral medications seem to work against the virus.

Schuchat of the CDC said officials believe the new strain can spread human-to-human, which is unusual for a swine flu virus. The CDC is checking people who have been in contact with the seven confirmed U.S. cases, who all became ill between late March and mid-April.

The U.S. cases are a growing medical mystery because it's unclear how they caught the virus. The CDC said none of the seven people were in contact with pigs, which is how people usually catch swine flu. And only a few were in contact with each other.

CDC officials described the virus as having a unique combination of gene segments not seen in people or pigs before. The bug contains human virus, avian virus from North America and pig viruses from North America, Europe and Asia.

Health officials have seen mixes of bird, pig and human virus before, but never such an intercontinental combination with more than one pig virus in the mix.

Scientists keep a close eye on flu viruses that emerge from pigs. The animals are considered particularly susceptible to both avian and human viruses and a likely place where the kind of genetic reassortment can take place that might lead to a new form of pandemic flu, said Dr. John Treanor, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The virus may be something completely new, or it may have been around for a while but was only detected now because of improved lab testing and disease surveillance, CDC officials said.

The virus was first detected in two children in southern California - a 10-year-old boy in San Diego County and a 9-year-old girl in neighboring Imperial County.

It's not known if the seasonal flu vaccine Americans got this winter protects against this type of virus. People should wash their hands and take other customary precautions, CDC officials said.

Closing the schools across the metropolis of 20 million kept 6.1 million students home from day care centers through high schools, and thousands more were affected as colleges and universities closed down. Parents scrambled to juggle work and family concerns due to what local media said was the first citywide schools closure since Mexico City's devastating 1985 earthquake.

Authorities also advised capital residents not to go to work if they felt ill, and to wear surgical masks if they had to move through crowds. A wider shutdown - perhaps including shutting down government offices - was being considered.

"It is very likely that classes will be suspended for several days," Cordova said. "We will have to evaluate, and let's hope this doesn't happen, the need to restrict activity at workplaces."

Mexico's initial response in its overcrowded capital brought to mind other major outbreaks - such as when SARS hit Asia. At its peak in 2003, Beijing was the hardest-hit city in the world. Schools, cinemas and restaurants were shuttered to prevent the spread the deadly respiratory virus, and thousands of people were quarantined at home.

In March 2008, Hong Kong ordered more than a half million young students to stay home for two weeks because of a flu outbreak. It was the first such closure in Hong Kong since the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Lillian Molina and other teachers at the Montessori's World preschool scrubbed down their empty classrooms with Clorox, soap and Lysol on Friday between fielding calls from worried parents. While the school has had no known cases among its students, Molina supported the government's decision to shutter classes, especially in preschools.

"It's great they are taking precautions," she said. "I think it's a really good idea."

In Mexico City, the decision to close schools across the metropolis of 20 million kept 6.1 million students home from day care centers through high schools, and thousands more were affected as colleges and universities closed down. Parents scrambled to juggle work and family concerns due to what local media said was the first citywide schools closure since the city's devastating 1985 earthquake.

Authorities also advised capital residents not to go to work if they felt ill. A wider shutdown - perhaps including shutting down government offices - was being considered.

"It is very likely that classes will be suspended for several days," Cordova said. "We will have to evaluate, and let's hope this doesn't happen, the need to restrict activity at workplaces."

Mexico's initial response in its overcrowded capital brought to mind other major outbreaks - such as when SARS hit Asia. At its peak in 2003, Beijing was the hardest-hit city in the world. Schools, cinemas and restaurants were shuttered to prevent the spread the deadly respiratory virus, and thousands of people were quarantined at home.

In March 2008, Hong Kong ordered more than a half million young students to stay home for two weeks because of a flu outbreak. It was the first such closure in Hong Kong since the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Lillian Molina and other teachers at the Montessori's World preschool scrubbed down their empty classrooms with Clorox, soap and Lysol on Friday between fielding calls from worried parents. While the school has had no known cases among its students, Molina supported the government's decision to shutter classes, especially in preschools.

"It's great they are taking precautions," she said. "I think it's a really good idea."