Flu, Mostly Mild, Has Spread Across U.S.

The New York Times

Published: May 3, 2009

By DENISE GRADY

According to federal health officials on Sunday, swine flu has spread across the United States. 226 cases have been reported from 30 states and the number is expected to grow the next few more days.

Dr. Anne Schuchat is the interim deputy director for science and public health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She said, "I think it's circulating all over the U.S. The virus has arived. I would say, in most of the country now." She added that the most cases have been mild and cases in Mexico seem to be leveling off. However, Dr. Schuchat was still cautious, saying, "I don't think we're out of the woods yet."

Dr. Schuchat said that there were some unusual features of the virus. The virus is called H1N1 by scientists and has started infecting people when the usualy flu season is coming to the end. This virus is new, so people probably are less immune to it. Also, most of the cases appear to be occured in older children and youner adults. She said, "very few confirmed are over 50. They tend to be younger. Whether it will pan out in the weeks ahead we don't know, but it is a pattern that looks different from seasonal influenza."

She assured that scientists at the C.D.C were preparinga vaccine to protect further cases. Also, a making of vaccine to protect pigs from the H1N1 virus is also in progress.

Dr. John R. Clifford is the chief veterinary officer for animal health for the Department of Agriculture. He said that there are some cases in Canada in which pigs have contracted the virus from a human although there has been none in the United States.

The World Health Organization announced that 898 human cases of the new swin flu have been confirmed in 18 countries worldwide. On Sunday, there was a World Health Organization news teleconference to discuss the possibility of H1N1 virus passing between humans and pigs. Canadian officials reported in the gathering that pigs in Alberta have caught the virus from contact with an infected farm worker. Peter K. Ben Embarek warned of the possibility of people getting infected from the pigs they work with. He suggested that people should avoid exposing to sick animals.

Also, Dr. Ben Embarek and other health officials said that it was safe to eat properly cooked pork: "You can continue eat safely safely your prosciutto".

In the gathering, it was highlighted that the infected pigs in Canada were detected because of a policy in Alberta that requires farmers and veterinarians to report all cases of flu in pigs to the government. In contrast, the United States government do not impose such a policy that requires farmers to report flu in pigs.

Opinion: For the past few days, St. Andrew's College has installed extra sanitizer stations to reduce the possibility of students catching the swine flu. As well, in dining hall, we were joking that eating pork will infect you with the flu. First of all, I was also uncertain and worried whether or not it is safe to eat pork. So this article assured me that the flu has been mostly wild and cases in Mexico are leveling off, and that it is safe to eat pork. Second of all, As Dr. Schuchat said, this virus is new and unusual that people are more susceptible and have less resistant to it. Unfortunately, the cause of this virus hasn't been discovered. Therefore, I believe it is important for the government to make sure that vaccine is available to infected people. Also, the government should impose a policy to require farmers to report infected pigs so that this kind of influenza can be quickly prevented from spreading in the future.