Flu Pandemic in the making

Pandemic in the making
Tags: SCIENCE/HEALTH/CLIMATE/NATURE
Canada's chief public health officer expressed deep concern about a swine influenza outbreak gripping Mexico and the southwestern United States as health officials around the world went on high alert for a potential global flu pandemic.

"This is very concerning, clearly. That's why we're all paying attention," David Butler-Jones said yesterday. "What it will lead to is impossible to predict."
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Swine flu outbreak international 'public health emergency': WHO
Tags: SCIENCE/HEALTH/CLIMATE/NATURE
Calling the swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the United States a "public health emergency of international concern," the World Health Organization asked countries around the world Saturday to step up their reporting and surveillance of influenza.

The move signals that the WHO fears the outbreak could spread to other countries and is calling for a co-ordinated international response to contain it.

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Perry Requests Antiviral Medications From CDC
Tags: SCIENCE/HEALTH/CLIMATE/NATURE
Gov. Rick Perry Saturday asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 37,430 courses of antiviral medications from the Strategic National Stockpile as a precaution after three cases of swine flu were confirmed in Texas