(CNSNews.com) – Governments around the world were on high alert Monday for the possibility of a swine flu pandemic spreading from Mexico, with health officials urging preparedness and public cooperation but also seeking to avert panic.
 
Increased surveillance following scores of deaths in Mexico has detected confirmed or suspected cases of the new virus in the United States and Canada, and as far away as Europe and New Zealand.
 
Government responses to the rapidly evolving situation vary, but many are screening airline passengers on flights from affected regions and advising against travel to Mexico.
 
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified the strain as type H1N1, a combination of genetic material from pigs, birds and humans.
 
Unusually for flu virus, the new one is hitting mostly otherwise healthy young adults in Mexico, while those usually most susceptible – the elderly or very young – have not been heavily affected, according to the Geneva-based U.N. World Health Organization (WHO).
 
Another key concern is person-to-person-to-person transmission, with associated risks for groups like school communities and planeloads of passengers.
 
There is currently no vaccine for the new strain, but WHO reports that initial findings indicate it responds to the antiviral medication Tamiflu.
 
The influenza death toll in Mexico rose to 103, the government announced late Sunday, although they have yet to be confirmed as having resulted specifically from the H1N1 strain.
 
For reasons still unclear to CDC experts, the illness in confirmed cases beyond Mexico’s borders has been considerably less severe than those inside that country, with no deaths reported, and few cases requiring hospitalization.
 
But Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC cautioned during a telephonic briefing Sunday that the situation may change quickly.
 
“We may be fortunate,” she said, “but I think we really need to prepare for the idea that we will have additional cases, additional affected states, and I do fear that we will have deaths here.”

As of Sunday, the CDC reported 20 laboratory-confirmed H1N1 cases in the U.S. – eight in New York City, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio. Schuchat said the ages range from seven to 54. Six cases have been confirmed in Canada.
 
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Sunday the U.S. had declared a “public health emergency,” but downplayed the seriousness suggested by the term, describing it as essentially a state of emergency preparedness, similar to steps taken during recent floods in Minnesota and North Dakota, or during the presidential inauguration last January.
 
One-quarter of a national stockpile of 50 million doses of Tamiflu would be made available for use by states, she told a briefing at the White House.
 
For the meantime, the State Department would not issue travel advisories for Mexico, Napolitano said, and screening of arrivals from Mexico would be “passive” – people were being asked whether they were now or had previously been ill, and if so were referred for further examination.
 
“Right now we don’t think the facts warrant a more active testing or screening of passengers coming in from Mexico,” she said, adding that the situation could change in the coming days.
 
Pandemic alert level unchanged for now
 
After a meeting Saturday of its emergency committee – a group of international experts in various disciplines – the WHO said it was defining the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern” but at this stage was not recommending travel or trade restrictions or border closures.

The world body’s pandemic alert level remains at three on a scale of one to six. Upping it to level four would indicate that a pandemic is imminent. WHO assistant director-general for health security Keiji Fukuda told reporters Sunday the committee would meet again on Tuesday at the latest to assess whether to do so.
 
Three flu pandemics over the last century – in 1918-19, 1957-58 and 1968-69 – killed tens of millions of people.
 
Beyond North America, suspected H1N1 cases have been reported in Colombia, Spain, Britain, France and Israel.
 
In New Zealand, at least 10 high school students among a group that returned from a school language trip to Mexico on Saturday were thought “highly likely” to have H1N1, the country’s health minister said. Lab confirmation is awaited.
 
Other passengers on the same long haul flight from the U.S. West Coast as the ill students were being tracked down as a precautionary measure. Health staff were at hand at Auckland international airport to hand out health notices, answer questions and secure contact details for passengers on flights originating in North America.
 
Elsewhere, governments were putting in place various levels of precautions. Concerns were especially high in Asia, where although no H1N1 cases have yet been reported, outbreaks of the flu-like SARS virus and the avian flu strain H5N1 over the past decade cost more than 1,000 lives and took a heavy toll on regional economies.
 
Singapore’s health ministry early Monday set up thermal scanners at the airport designed to detect above-normal temperatures among passengers awaiting immigration clearance after arrival on flights from the U.S. Similar systems were operating in Hong Kong.
 
In Japan, the government spokesman said doctors would board flights arriving from Mexico to boost health inspections. The government would take all possible steps to prevent the strain from entering Japan, he said, urging people to remain calm.
 
Taiwan’s government stepped up screening of arriving passengers, and customs officers on duty Monday were wearing masks on Monday. Health officials said if the situation worsened, they would advise Taiwanese nationals to avoid unnecessary visits to Mexico as well as to California and Texas.
 
China’s quarantine authority issued an emergency notice, requiring people arriving from affected regions to report any flu-like symptoms at points of entry, and South Korean authorities said they were checking all passengers arriving from the U.S.
 
Malaysia’s tourism minister said citizens were advised to avoid Mexico until the situation is stabilized.
 
The CDC and other health authorities say swine flu cannot be caught by eating pork or pork products. Nonetheless, the Philippines’ agriculture department announced it would tighten monitoring of ports to prevent the entry of pork products from Mexico or the U.S.
 
Russia is banning the import of pork products from the entire region from Colombia to the southern U.S. states.
 
The CDC says the most common H1N1 symptoms are fever, fatigue, lack of appetite and coughing. Others may include a runny nose, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea.
 
CDC guidelines for everyday preventive actions include covering nose and mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing; throwing away used tissues; frequent and thorough hand washing, especially after sneezing or coughing; avoiding touching nose, mouth or eyes; staying away from sick people; and staying away from work, school and public transport if ill.