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There are three new confirmed cases of swine flu in the Lower Mainland as the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday raised its influenza pandemic threat level to five out of six.
One of the new B.C. cases did not travel to Mexico and is presumed to have contracted the virus locally through contact with travellers returned from Mexico, said Dr. David Patrick, director of epidemiology at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
“It’s possible that it could represent a case of secondary transmission in British Columbia,” said Patrick.
“We’re not sure yet whether the dynamics of this virus are such that it will sustain easy secondary transmission in the community. It is possible that it will be — but the jury is still out.”
The three new cases double the total number of sick in B.C. to six. In all instances, Patrick added, symptoms of the H1N1 swine flu have been mild, although one person did spend a night in hospital.
The human-to-human transmission appeared to be occurring all over the world, which prompted the WHO to raise the alert level to 5 and warn that the world is at the brink of a pandemic.
“Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world,” WHO director general Margaret Chan told a news conference in Geneva.
“The biggest question is this: How severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start,” Chan said. But she added that the world “is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history.”
Yesterday also saw the first swine flu death outside of Mexico, when a toddler died of it in Texas.
One of the new B.C. cases did not travel to Mexico and is presumed to have contracted the virus locally through contact with travellers returned from Mexico, said Dr. David Patrick, director of epidemiology at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
“It’s possible that it could represent a case of secondary transmission in British Columbia,” said Patrick.
“We’re not sure yet whether the dynamics of this virus are such that it will sustain easy secondary transmission in the community. It is possible that it will be — but the jury is still out.”
The three new cases double the total number of sick in B.C. to six. In all instances, Patrick added, symptoms of the H1N1 swine flu have been mild, although one person did spend a night in hospital.
The human-to-human transmission appeared to be occurring all over the world, which prompted the WHO to raise the alert level to 5 and warn that the world is at the brink of a pandemic.
“Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world,” WHO director general Margaret Chan told a news conference in Geneva.
“The biggest question is this: How severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start,” Chan said. But she added that the world “is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history.”
Yesterday also saw the first swine flu death outside of Mexico, when a toddler died of it in Texas.
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