News Items Today

This will be done over the next few days when the wandering pigs will be hunted down and killed on the streets if necessary.

These pigs are not infected, but Egypt is taking no chances. -

This will have major implications on the pork industry which is already severely hit.

The first person who contracted the swine flu virus has been traced back and it appears to be a 4 year old boy from La Gloria, Veracruz, Mexico, who fell sick with the virus in February.

He has since made a full recovery and Mexico is blaming local contaminated pig farms in the La Gloria area for polluting the virus of the flu epidemic.

The Pandemic level has been raised to level 5 today by the World Health Organisation. Meaning: Widespread human to human transmission in at least 2 countries.

The W.H.O said “All humanity is now under threat”. - With their watchword of the day being: “Prepare for a imminent Pandemic”.-

A little late in the day and well overdue, America is now considering closing the border between Mexico and the US.

Deaths in Mexico to date are 176 with over 2, 500 suspected infected, and rising. -

Meanwhile, the H1N1 Swine Flu Virus has claimed its first victim outside Mexico. A 23 month old toddler in Houston, Texas, has died from the effects of the virus.

He was a Mexican child who had travelled to the US to visit relatives. Whilst here, he became sick on the 4th of April and died today in hospital.

The H1NI Swine flu strain was flown into the UK from the US for work to start on developing an antidote.

This will be carried out at the World Influenza Centre for Medical Research with experiments on ferrets, in a race against time.

They have called the Swine flu outbreak an: “International public health scare” of “Potential Pandemic” proportions.

Human Transmission of the influenza is spreading fast and there is now cause for worry that this new lethal strain of swine flu could become a huge global threat.

It is feared that a large percentage of the world’s population could be at risk of infection, and that the seasonal influenza vaccine will not provide adequate protection against this deadly mutation of the swine flu virus.

The flimsy porous, paper based face masks that are being handed out will give little protection against the virus.

With many cases spreading rapidly across the world, in Australia, US, UK, New Zealand, Canada, Austria France, Spain, South Korea and now a first case in Germany, the virus is already on the rampage across the globe.

Swine flu Incubation period is 2-7 days and anyone suspecting they may have contracted the virus should isolate themselves immediately and seek medical help.

Sneezing and coughing should be done into a tissue and then disposed of carefully. If you have no tissue at hand use the crook of the elbow and not the hand.

Coughing and sneezing can be projected at 70 miles per hour infecting others so hygiene plays a very important factor in trying to control the spread of infection.

Hand washing with an anti-bacterial product will give some protection and staying away from crowded places will help.

This H1N1 Swine flu virus is characterised by: Severe headaches – Sudden fever with accompanying temperature of 39% - Muscular joint aches – Eye irritation - a runny nose - Cough - Sore throat - Vomitting - Diarrhoea.

We are currently at Pandemic level 5, with level 6, full blown Pandemic, looming ever large on the not too distant horizon.

Today saw the first case of unconnected, human-to-human transmission, with a man in Catalonia, Spain, who had not visited Mexico, catching the virus.

This now means that the virus has established itself as a stand alone human virus which has silently taken up residence as a new strain and will now start to travel insidiously throughout the world. -