1. WHO data continue to show that certain medical conditions increase the risk of severe H1N1 and fatal illness. These include respiratory disease, notably asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and immunosuppression.
2. WHO estimates that more than 230 million people globally have asthma, and more than 220 million have diabetes. Obesity may also worsen the risk of severe infection, WHO said.
WHO Warns of Severe Form of H1N1 Virus
Saturday, August 29, 2009/Reuters/Times
Doctors are reporting a severe form of H1N1 that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in otherwise healthy young people and requiring expensive hospital treatment, the World Health Organization said Friday.
Some countries are reporting that as many as 15 percent of patients hospitalized with the new H1N1 pandemic virus need intensive care, further straining already overburdened healthcare systems, WHO said in an update on the pandemic.
"During the winter season in the southern hemisphere, several countries have viewed the need for intensive care as the greatest burden on health services," it said.
"Preparedness measures need to anticipate this increased demand on intensive care units, which could be overwhelmed by a sudden surge in the number of severe cases."
Earlier, WHO reported that H1N1 had reached epidemic levels in Japan, signaling an early start to what may be a long influenza season this year, and that it was also worsening in tropical regions.
"Perhaps most significantly, clinicians from around the world are reporting a very severe form of disease, also in young and otherwise healthy people, which is rarely seen during seasonal influenza infections," WHO said.
"In these patients, the virus directly infects the lung, causing severe respiratory failure. Saving these lives depends on highly specialized and demanding care in intensive care units, usually with long and costly stays."
MINORITIES AT RISK
Minority groups and indigenous populations may also have a higher risk of being severely ill with H1N1.
"In some studies, the risk in these groups is four to five times higher than in the general population," WHO said.
"Although the reasons are not fully understood, possible explanations include lower standards of living and poor overall health status, including a high prevalence of conditions such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension."
WHO said it was advising countries in the Northern Hemisphere to prepare for a second wave of pandemic spread. "Countries with tropical climates, where the pandemic virus arrived later than elsewhere, also need to prepare for an increasing number of cases," it said.
Every year, seasonal flu infects between 5 percent and 20 percent of a given population and kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally. Because hardly anyone has immunity to the new H1N1 virus, experts believe it will infect far more people than usual, as much as a third of the population.
It also disproportionately affects younger people, unlike seasonal flu which mainly burdens the elderly, and thus may cause more severe illness and deaths among young adults and children than seasonal flu does.
"Data continue to show that certain medical conditions increase the risk of severe and fatal illness. These include respiratory disease, notably asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and immunosuppression," WHO said.
"When anticipating the impact of the pandemic as more people become infected, health officials need to be aware that many of these predisposing conditions have become much more widespread in recent decades, thus increasing the pool of vulnerable people."
WHO estimates that more than 230 million people globally have asthma, and more than 220 million have diabetes. Obesity may also worsen the risk of severe infection, WHO said.
The good news — people infected with AIDS virus do not seem to be at special risk from H1N1, WHO said.
ALARMING WHO STATISTIC ABOUT FLU AH1N1
SIDANG TERGEMPAR PARLIMEN BINCANG PANDEMIK H1N1
PAS desak adakan sidang tergempar bincang wabak selesema babi
TUMPAT, 3 Ogos (Hrkh) - Mengambil kira jumlah korban akibat virus selesema babi atau influenza A (H1N1) meningkat kepada tujuh orang hari ini, kerajaan didesak memanggil persidangan tergempar Dewan Rakyat.
Persidangan khas itu dianggap penting bagi membolehkan rakyat mendapat gambaran lebih jelas mengenai penularan wabak tersebut.
Naib Presiden PAS, Dato' Mahfuz Omar berkata, anggota parlimen Pakatan Rakyat memandang serius penularan wabak tersebut dengan begitu cepat sehingga mengakibatkan tujuh menjadi mangsa sehingga hari ini.
"Melihat kepada situasi itu kami berpendapat adalah perlu diadakan persidangan tergempar Dewan Rakyat bagi membincangkan langkah lebih kontrit untuk menangani penularan H1N1 yang begitu membimbangkan sekarang.
"Pada persidangan itu kerajaan perlu membentang kertas putih untuk diketengahkan apa yang telah dilakukan kerajaan dan cadangan baru menangani wabak tersebut," katanya pada persidangan media di sini petang ini.
Sebelum itu beliau menghadiri program pemimpin bersama rakyat peringkat Dun Pengkalan Kubur di Kampung Geting, dekat sini.
Hadir sama seorang lagi Naib Presiden PAS, Salahuddin Ayub dan anggota parlimen Tumpat, Dato' Kamaruddin Jaffar.
Hari ini seorang ibu yang baru bersalin dua minggu di Sarawak menjadi korban ketujuh akibat influenza A (H1N1).
Mangsa terbaru itu berusia 23 tahun meninggal dunia di Unit Rawatan Rapi Hospital Miri jam 4 pagi tadi. Beliau didapati mengidap pneumonia yang teruk.
Mahfuz yang juga anggota parlimen Pokok Sena berkata, melalui pembentangan kertas putih anggota-anggota parlimen dapat membincangkan sama ada perlu atau tidak kerajaan mengisytiharkan darurat ekoran penularan wabak H1N1.
Sementara itu dalam perkembangan lain katanya, himpunan membantah ISA Sabtu lalu mencapai kejayaan apabila puluhan ribu rakyat hadir sehingga menimbulkan suasana panik di kalangan pemimpin Barisan Nasional.
Mohd Nor Yahya/mj/harakahdaily
H1N1 INFLUENZA VIRUS RESEMBLES VIRUS STRAIN CAUSING 1918 FLU PANDEMIC
Study: Swine Flu Resembles 1918 Virus
Monday, July 13, 2009
WASHINGTON — The new H1N1 influenza virus bears a disturbing resemblance to the virus strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, with a greater ability to infect the lungs than common seasonal flu viruses, researchers reported on Monday.
Tests in several 
animals
confirmed other studies that have shown the new swine flu strain can spread beyond the upper respiratory
tract to go deep into the lungs —
making it more likely to cause pneumonia, the international team said.
In addition, they found that people who survived the 1918 pandemic seem to have extra immune protection against the virus, again confirming the work of other researchers.
"When we conducted the experiments in ferrets and monkeys, the seasonal virus did not replicate in the lungs," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, who led the study.
The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs."
The new swine flu virus has caused the first pandemic of the 21st century, infecting more than a million people, according to estimates, and killing at least 500. The World Health Organization says it is causing mostly moderate disease but Kawaoka said that does not mean it is like seasonal flu.
"There is a misunderstanding about this virus," he said in a statement. "There is clear evidence the virus is different than seasonal influenza."
Writing in the journal Nature, Kawaoka and colleagues noted that the ability to infect the lungs is a characteristic of other pandemic viruses, especially the 1918 virus, which is estimated to have killed between 40 million and 100 million people.
Old Protection
They tested the virus in blood samples taken from nursing home residents and workers in 1999 in California, Wisconsin, the Netherlands and Japan.
People born before 1920 had a strong antibody response to the new H1N1 virus, meaning their body "remembered" it from infection early in life. This finding supports a study published in Nature in August that also found people who survived the 1918 pandemic still had immune protection against that virus.
Flu viruses change constantly, which is why people can be re-infected and why the vaccine must be changed regularly. Current seasonal strains of H1N1 are distant cousins of both the 1918 pandemic strain and the new H1N1 strain.
"Our findings are a reminder that swine-origin influenza viruses have not yet garnered a place in history, but may still do so, as the pandemic caused by these viruses has the potential to produce a significant impact on human health and the global economy," the researchers wrote.
Other tests showed the virus could be controlled by the antiviral drugs Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline, and Tamiflu, made by Roche AG, the researchers said.
The World Health Organization said on Monday that vaccine makers should start making immunizations against H1N1 and that healthcare workers should be first in line to get them.
Companies working on an H1N1 vaccine include Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis AG, Baxter International Inc, GlaxoSmithKline, Solvay and nasal spray maker MedImmune, now part of AstraZeneca.
W.H.O GENERAL ADVICE ON H1N1 PERSONAL PREVENTIVE MEASURES
PELAJAR SEKOLAH ANTARA 50 MANGSA INFLUENZA A HINI DI NEGARA INI
Satu kes Influenza A (H1N1) melibatkan seorang pelajar perempuan berusia 11 tahun dari SRJK (C) Jalan Davidson di Kuala Lumpur telah disahkan hari ini menjadikan kes Influenza A (H1N1) di sekolah itu kepada tiga sekaligus memaksa pihak berwajib menutup sekolah berkenaan selama seminggu.
Seorang pelajar tahun lima dari Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Assunta 2 di Petaling Jaya dan pelajar tingkatan empat dari Sekolah Menengah Shah Alam merupakan antara lapan kes H1N1 terbaru yang dilaporkan hari ini juga.
Ini menjadikan jumlah kes Influenza A (H1N1) di seluruh negara sebanyak 50 setakat ini.
21 Jun, 2009 21:26 PM
SRJK Jalan Davidson Ditutup Akibat H1N1
PUTRAJAYA, 21 Jun (Bernama) -- Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SRJK) (C) Jalan Davidson di Kuala Lumpur menjadi sekolah pertama di negara ini yang ditutup akibat penularan virus Influenza A (H1N1).
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin berkata penutupan sekolah berkenaan selama seminggu telah dimaklumkan kepada beliau oleh Menteri Kesihatan, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai tengah hari tadi.
Menurut beliau, langkah tersebut adalah keputusan yang telah dipersetujui selepas Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN) bermesyuarat minggu lepas.
"Kita telah bersetuju untuk mengambil tindakan ini mengikut protokol yang ditetapkan selepas mesyuarat beberapa hari lepas. Ia perlu untuk mengelakkan virus ini terus merebak.
"Walaupun hanya seorang pelajar yang dijangkiti tapi dia mendapat virus ini menerusi rakyat Malaysia yang lain dan telah menjangkiti dua pelajar lain jadi tindakan Kementerian Kesihatan untuk menutup sekolah berkenaan adalah wajar," katanya kepada pemberita dalam sidang akhbar selepas pertandingan akhir Kejohanan Rowing Jabatan Perdana Menteri (JPM) di Kompleks Sukan Air di sini hari ini.
Beliau menyatakan demikian ketika diminta mengulas mengenai penutupan SJKC Jalan Davidson berikutan penularan tempatan virus H1N1 melibatkan pelajar sekolah itu.
Muhyiddin yang juga Menteri Pelajaran berkata, selain dari mengkuarantin pelajar terbabit, pemantauan rapi akan dilakukan ke atas sekolah itu sepanjang ia ditutup.
"Jika keadaan bertambah baik ia akan dibuka semula selepas seminggu. Kita tidak dapat mengelakkan perkara ini daripada berlaku. Walaupun saya tidak mahu pembelajaran murid-murid ini terganggu tapi keselamatan para pelajar itu perlu diutamakan terleboh dahulu. Jangan tunggu sehingga ia menjangkiti lebih ramai pelajar kerana pada ketika itu, semua sudah terlambat," katanya.
Beliau berkata, kesemua ibu bapa diminta agar memahami sepenuhnya tindakan berkenaan sekaligus memberikan kerjasama kepada pihak sekolah untuk memastikan semua perkara berjalan dengan lancar.
Menjawab soalan sama ada MKN akan menutup dua sekolah lagi di Selangor berikutan kejadian yang sama, Muhyiddin berkata buat masa ini tidak perlu.
"Keadaan masih terkawal untuk dua sekolah berkenaan dan kami masih memantau perkembangan lanjut. Buat masa ini kesemua langkah-langkah pencegahan telah dijalankan sebaik mungkin," katanya.
Seorang pelajar tahun lima dari Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Assunta 2 di Petaling Jaya dan pelajar tingkatan empat dari Sekolah Menengah Shah Alam merupakan antara lapan kes H1N1 terbaru yang dilaporkan hari ini.
Muhyiddin turut menolak kemungkinan untuk mengenakan saringan kesihatan ke atas setiap murid sebelum mereka memasuki perkarangan sekolah seperti yang diamalkan di negara jiran Singapura.
Mengulas lanjut beliau berkata langkah itu dianggap sebagai drastik dan boleh mencetuskan kebimbangan yang tidak terkawal di kalangan masyarakat setempat, khususnya ibu bapa.
"Walaupun kita mengambil berat dan memandang serius penularan virus ini, kita mahu ia dilakukan dengan teratur dan tepat, bukan mencetuskan kebimbangan yang tidak berasas dengan pergi ke semua sekolah dan memeriksa semua pelajar, ada lebih lima juta pelajar.
"Saya rasa Kementerian Kesihatan lebih tahu apa yang wajar mereka lakukan mengikut kes yang diterima. Itu sudah memadai," katanya.
Kementerian Pelajaran juga jelas beliau, tidak bercadang mengenakan sekatan atau larangan untuk para pelajar mengunjungi negara-negara terlibat walaupun mereka dinasihatkan untuk menangguhkan perjalanan itu sehingga keadaan pulih sepenuhnya.
"Mereka patut mengelak dari mengunjungi negara-negara terlibat tapi pada setakat ini, kita masih belum mengeluarkan larangan seumpama itu. Jika kita melarang semua orang pergi ke mana-mana, ia juga akan menimbulkan masalah lain," katanya.
Terdahulu, Liow mengumumkan satu lagi kes Influenza A (H1N1) melibatkan seorang pelajar perempuan berusia 11 tahun dari SRJK (C) Jalan Davidson di Kuala Lumpur disahkan hari ini, menjadikan jumlah kes Influenza A (H1N1) di seluruh negara sebanyak 50 setakat ini.
Menteri itu berkata pelajar tersebut adalah rakan sekelas kepada kes terdahulu di sekolah berkenaan iaitu di Kelas 5(I), menjadikan kes Influenza A (H1N1) di sekolah itu kepada tiga, dua daripadanya kes penularan tempatan.
"Kami akan memantau sekolah itu dari dekat bersama guru-guru dan PIBG," katanya kepada pemberita selepas melawat sekolah itu.
Sebelum itu pelajar perempuan kelas yang sama telah disahkan menghidap penyakit itu pada pukul 6.30 pagi hari ini.
Menurut Liow kedua-dua pelajar perempuan berkenaan duduk berdekatan (di dalam kelas) dengan pelajar pertama sekolah itu yang mendapat jangkitan Influenza A (H1N1) selepas melawat Melbourne.
Berikutan itu Liow mengumumkan penutupan SRJK (C) Jalan Davidson ditutup mulai 19 Jun (Jumaat lepas) sehingga 26 Jun minggu depan sebagai langkah pencegahan penularan jangkitan penyakit itu di kalangan warga sekolah.
-- BERNAMA
INFLUENZA A (H1N1) MEREBAK KE 74 NEGARA
*Pandemik Influenza A (H1N1): Aktiviti Pemantauan Ditingkat
*W.H.O. Raises Alert Level as Flu Spreads to 74 Countries
Statistics
(Photo:The government of Hong Kong on Thursday ordered all primary schools in the city to be closed for two weeks after the first cluster of local swine flu cases was found. Above, kindergarten students at a local school on Thursday.)
Pandemik Influenza A (H1N1): Aktiviti Pemantauan Ditingkat
Kementerian Kesihatan akan meningkatkan aktiviti pemantauan, pencegahan dan kawalan seiring dengan langkah Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) meningkatkan paras amaran wabak itu ke tahap tertinggi Rabu.
Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican berkata dalam tempoh lima tahun yang lalu, kementerian telahpun membuat persiapan yang baik termasuk latihan dan menyimpan ubat dan alat perlindungan diri.
Selain meneruskan langkah kawalan sedia ada, kementerian akan turut memaklumkan kepada klinik dan hospital kerajaan dan swasta agar mengenal pasti mereka yang mempunyai tanda-tanda influenza dan sama ada pesakit baru balik dari luar negara atau mempunyai hubungan dengan mereka yang baru pulang dari luar negara, katanya kepada pemberita di sini Jumaat.
Dr Mohd Ismail berkata tindakan seperti penutupan sekolah dan institusi serta pembatalan majlis perhimpunan atau perjumpaan awam akan diambil hanya jika terdapat penularan tempatan wabak Influenza A (H1N1) di negara ini.
"Setakat ini belum terdapat sebarang kes penularan tempatan kerana 11 kes yang dilaporkan sebelum ini kesemuanya merupakan kes import," katanya.
Dr Mohd Ismail berkata kementerian juga akan meminta kerjasama pihak berkuasa tempatan agar lebih kerap memeriksa tandas di tempat-tempat awam seperti dewan masyarakat dan pusat beli belah bagi memastikan kebersihan tandas-tandas itu dijaga kerana jangkitan penyakit dapat dielakkan dengan amalan kebersihan yang baik.
Beliau berkata kerjasama daripada Kementerian Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan juga diperlukan bagi menyiarkan langkah-langkah pencegahan wabak itu dengan lebih kerap manakala orang ramai perlu sentiasa mengamalkan amalan kebersihan yang baik, termasuk memakai topeng muka di tempat awam sekiranya mereka mempunyai tanda-tanda influenza dan sentiasa membasuh tangan dengan sabun.
Dr Mohd Ismail berkata bagi membolehkan mereka yang masuk ke negara ini dijejaki sekiranya terdapat sebarang kes Influenza A (H1N1), kementerian akan meminta kerjasama syarikat penerbangan untuk memastikan borang perisytiharan kesihatan diisi sepenuhnya.
Mengenai situasi semasa, beliau berkata tiada kes baru dilaporkan, manakala tujuh daripada kes yang dilaporkan sebelum ini telahpun tamat rawatan dan dibenarkan pulang, meninggalkan hanya empat kes yang masih dirawat.
Beliau berkata sejumlah 32 notifikasi kes yang mempunyai gejala jangkitan influenza setelah kembali dari negara yang terlibat diterima semalam, dan daripada jumlah itu 23 didapati negatif Influenza A (H1N1) manakala sembilan lagi masih menunggu keputusan.
Sehingga pagi ini, WHO memaklumkan terdapat 28,820 kes dengan 144 kematian dilaporkan semalam, pertambahan 996 kes dan tiga kematian berbanding hari sebelumnya.
Di ALOR SETAR, Menteri Kesihatan Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai menasihatkan rakyat agar tidak cemas kerana penyakit itu belum mencapai tahap menular di Malaysia.
Beliau berkata pemeriksaan di semua pintu masuk negara diperketatkan bagi mengesan semua penghidap yang memasuki negara ini.
-- BERNAMA
=====================================================================================
W.H.O. Raises Alert Level as Flu Spreads to 74 Countries
GENEVA — The World Health Organization has told its member nations it is declaring a swine flu pandemic — the first global flu epidemic in 41 years, news services reported.
The move came after an emergency meeting with flu experts here that was convened after a sharp rise in cases in Australia, which reported 1,263 cases on Thursday, and rising numbers in Britain, Japan, Chile and elsewhere.
In a statement sent to member countries, the W.H.O. said it decided to raise the pandemic alert level from phase 5 to 6, indicating a global pandemic outbreak, The Associated Press said, attributing the information to health officials from Scotland, Indonesia and Thailand. An official announcement of the change was due at 6 p.m. Geneva time on Thursday (noon in New York).
In an effort to avoid triggering panic with such an announcement, W.H.O. officials are expected to include a caveat that the flu, which has resulted in mostly mild cases, is not more deadly now that it has been declared a pandemic. Rather, the announcement reflects the global spread of the disease, not an increase in its severity.
According to W.H.O. rules, the organization should declare a pandemic once it finds evidence of widespread “community transmission” — meaning beyond travelers, schools and immediate contacts — on two continents.
In its latest report, the W.H.O. said Wednesday that 74 countries had reported 27,737 cases of the disease, and 141 deaths since the outbreak started in April. Those cases had been heavily concentrated in the Americas, but the rise in cases in Australia and elsewhere appeared to indicate communitywide spread in other world regions.
The declaration of a pandemic will trigger drug makers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money to containing the virus. While international health officials have said the flu appears to be less deadly than the annual bouts of seasonal flu that sweep the globe each year, they have warned that the virus could mutate into a more lethal strain during the Southern Hemisphere’s coming winter flu season. They are also worried that poorer countries could be overwhelmed with cases they do not have the capacity to treat.
The experts gathered at the request of the W.H.O. director-general, Margaret Chan, who held a teleconference on Wednesday with worst affected countries to try to determine if there was “indisputable” evidence that the spread of the disease met the organization’s criteria for declaring a pandemic.
The last pandemic, the Hong Kong flu of 1968, killed about 700,000 people worldwide. Ordinary flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 people each year, international health officials have said.
Meanwhile, efforts to limit the spread of the flu around the world continue. In Hong Kong, which is especially skittish about the flu after its experience with a lethal SARS outbreak in 2003, authorities have ordered all kindergartens, primary schools and day care centers to close after an outbreak of swine flu was reported at a local secondary school. The order, effective Friday, will last at least two weeks and affect about a half million students.
Fifty cases of the H1N1 flu have been reported in Hong Kong, but health officials said the 12 infected students at St. Paul’s Convent School were the first cluster of cases. The students are being quarantined at a hospital while officials try to determine the source of the infections.
On Wednesday, a 55-year-old man became the first person to contract the case locally in Hong Kong, according to health officials. So far, the city has had no fatalities from the disease.
Hong Kong’s Health Department says it will order 5 million doses of flu vaccine and open eight flu clinics. “The government is well prepared,” Donald Tsang, the city’s chief executive, said at a news conference on Thursday announcing the school closings. “There’s no need to panic.”
China confirmed 10 new flu cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections on the mainland to 111. Health officials say all of the country’s flu cases have involved people returning from abroad. According to the Health Ministry, the 10 new cases included a Canadian-Chinese teenager who had just been in Toronto and two children in Shanghai who had been in the United States. There have been no deaths, and more than half of those infected have been discharged from the hospital, the ministry said.
A Health Ministry official boasted Thursday that the government’s stringent prevention measures had kept swine flu from spreading in China. Every passenger arriving from overseas is checked for fever, and those suspected of having had contact with an infected person are placed in quarantine for a week.
“We think the method we are using has been pretty successful,” said Mao Qun’an, a ministry spokesman.
Chinese officials released Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans from three days of quarantine in Shanghai on Wednesday. Mr. Nagin and his wife had been placed in isolation after a passenger who sat one row ahead of them on a flight from the United States came down with a fever.
Mr. Nagin, who had been set to attend a series of economic development meetings, described the experience as “surreal” and said he and his wife had their temperatures taken every three to four hours. “When you see people coming toward you with full hazmat gear on, it’s pretty interesting,” he told The Associated Press after his release, referring to hazardous material protection.
In New York City, health officials said Thursday that three more people had died from the H1N1 virus, bringing the city’s total to 15, The A.P. reported. One victim was a child under the age of 5, one was a person between 5 to 24 years old, and another was between 30 to 39 years old.
The deaths came one day after health officials announcedthat in a telephone poll of New Yorkers, 6.9 percent of the 1,006 surveyed reported having flulike illness, like fever and cough or a sore throat, between May 1 and May 20, that may or may not have been swine flu.
Extrapolated to the general population, that would mean that about 550,000 people could have become sick with the virus. The 530 citywide who have been hospitalized make up a tiny proportion — about one-tenth of 1 percent — of those who became ill, an indication of how mild the virus generally has been, officials said.
The total number of swine flu cases reported to the nation’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other national, state, and city health authorities worldwide likely do not account for hundreds of thousands of cases which were not tested by doctors because of their mildness, flu experts have said.
“The findings don’t tell us exactly how many New Yorkers have had H1N1 influenza,” Dr. Thomas A. Farley, the city’s new health commissioner, said in a statement. “But they suggest it has been widespread and mild in most people.”
Nick Cumming-Bruce reported from Geneva and Andrew Jacobs from Beijing. Sharon Otterman contributed reporting from New York.
BERITA MENARIK SEKITAR PANDEMIK PENYAKIT A(H1N1)
1. Malaysia telah telah mengeluarkan nasihat khas perjalanan termasuk suntikan demam bermusim ke negara Amerika Syarikat (AS), Mexico, Kanada, Sepanyol dan Britain. Ini kerana 96.8 peratus kes penyakit A(H1N1) yang dilaporkan berpunca dari kelima-lima negara berkenaan.
2. Malaysia juga telah mengharamkan import daging babi dari Kanada.
3. Negara jiran sebelah utara (Thailand) telah melaporkan dua kes penyakit A(H1N1) dan kedua-dua mangsa didapati baru pulang dari Mexico sementara rakan mereka seramai 10 orang kini dalam pemantauan.
4. Thailand kini memiliki stokpenimbal 1.32 juta tablet anti-flu oseltamivir
Malaysia Keluar Nasihat Perjalanan Mengenai Influenza A(H1N1)
KUALA LUMPUR, 12 Mei (Bernama) -- Kementerian Luar Selasa mengeluarkan satu nasihat perjalanan sebagai langkah berjaga-jaga kepada semua rakyat Malaysia yang melawat lima negara, Amerika Syarikat (AS), Mexico, Kanada, Sepanyol dan Britain.
Ia menyatakan bahawa 96.8 peratus kes yang dilaporkan berpunca dari kelima-lima negara berkenaan.
Nasihat perjalanan itu juga menggesa rakyat Malaysia menangguhkan perjalanan ke tempat di mana virus tersebut telah melanda dengan teruk seperti Illinois, Wisconsin dan California di Amerika Syarikat.
Bagi perjalanan ke luar negara yang tidak dapat dielakkan, mereka hendaklah merujuk kepada doktor untuk mendapatkan suntikan demam bermusim.
Nasihat perjalanan itu menggariskan keperluan untuk mendapatkan maklumat terkini jika ada wabak atau kes baru influenza itu di destinasi berkenaan.
Ia juga menasihatkan agar mengelakkan diri daripada bersentuhan dengan mereka yang dijangkiti virus itu.
Bagi suspek influenza, mereka diperlukan agar mengelak diri daripada bersentuhan dengan yang lain sebaik mungkin dan tinggal di rumah atau di bilik hotel dan hubungi pihak berkuasa kesihatan tempatan dengan segera.
BERNAMA
Thailand confirms 2 cases of swine flu
AP
By AMBIKA AHUJA,Associated Press Writer - Wednesday, May 13
BANGKOK – Thailand announced Tuesday its first confirmed cases of swine flu in two people who recently returned from Mexico and have recovered from the illness.
Health Minister Witthaya Keawparadai declined to disclose the identities of the patients, citing doctor-patient confidentiality and the fact that their conditions had improved.
"The two patients have received a full dose of antiviral medicine and have returned to live normal lives," Witthaya said. "There is no outbreak in Thailand."
The cases in Thailand also marked the official arrival of swine flu in Southeast Asia. Other countries on the continent have reported cases, including China, Japan and South Korea.
Following the confirmation, Witthaya said the country's public health officials will step up surveillance by setting up more thermal scanners at airports and border checkpoints.
"We will have to be even more vigilant," he said. "We will also make sure our mobile medical teams are ready to be dispatched in case there is a case and to check on those who had possible contact with patients."
Witthaya said one of the patients had a fever upon returning from Mexico and the other developed a temperature three days after getting back to Thailand, declining to say when that was.
Authorities have contacted passengers who traveled on the same flight as the two patients and "no one has presented any symptoms," said Kumnuan Ungchusak, an official at Thailand's Department of Communicable Disease Control.
Health authorities sent samples from both patients last week to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for final testing, Witthaya said.
Authorities have also monitored eight people close to both patients for a week and none registered any symptoms, Witthaya said. He said an additional 10 people in Thailand were being monitored for swine flu.
Fourteen Thais who returned from an exchange program in Mexico earlier this month were taken to a hospital for observation. All tested negative.
Kumnuan said Thailand has a stockpile of 1.32 million tablets of the anti-flu medicine oseltamivir, and the Health Ministry is expected to buy more raw materials to locally produce at least another 2 million tablets.
FACTBOX: Countries slap bans on pork after flu outbreak
(Reuters) - Fears about a global outbreak of a new strain of flu has prompted some countries to ban pork from countries reporting human cases, even though officials have said there is no risk of spreading the virus by eating pork.
Here is a list of current restrictions on U.S. and Canadian pork and meat:
RESTRICTIONS ON U.S. PORK EXPORTS:
* Russia - all raw meat (including beef and poultry) from California, Texas, New York, South Carolina; all pork from Arizona, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio
* China - pork and swine from 38 states, including California, Texas, Kansas, New York, Ohio, Arizona, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Virginia, Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, Georgia and Maine
* South Korea - live swine, but not pork
* Kazakhstan - pork from Texas, California, Kansas
* Uzbekistan - all pork
* Kyrgyzstan - all meat
* Azerbaijan - all pork
* Ukraine - swine, all pork and all products including pet food
* Macedonia - swine
* Serbia - raw pork and swine
* Croatia - pork and swine
* Thailand - pork, swine, swine genetics, hides and skins
* Indonesia - all pork
* Saint Lucia - pork, swine and pig semen
* Ecuador - swine and pork
SOURCES: U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Agriculture Department
RESTRICTIONS ON CANADIAN PORK EXPORTS:
* Armenia - swine, pork, certain feed ingredients and genetics
* Azerbaijan - ban on all meat
* China - swine and pork from Alberta
* Croatia - swine, pork and genetics
* Honduras - pork
* Indonesia - pork
* Lebanon - pork
* Malaysia - swine and pork
* Philippines - pork
* Russia - swine and pork from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia
* South Korea - swine
* Thailand - swine, pork and genetics
* Ukraine - swine and pork
* Venezuela - swine and pork
SOURCE: Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Rod Nickel; editing by Jim Marshall and Andre Grenon)
