世界衛生組織︰豬流感（Swine Flu）恐爆發大流行

Q：何謂豬流感？

A：為A型流感病毒H1N1，墨西哥大流行的豬流感為變種病毒（本來只會感染豬，突變之後也可以感染人），秋冬是它的好發季節，但全年都會傳染。

Q：豬流感有何症狀？

A：感染到豬流感，症狀跟流感非常類似，通常會發燒到38.5度以上，咳嗽、喉嚨痛，肌肉、關節和骨頭痠痛、疲勞的情況，還有有流鼻水、胸腹疼痛，最後會出現嚴重的肺炎。

Q：豬流感的致死率？

A：在墨西哥，致命率有6.7%，死亡病患大多是25到40歲的壯年人。

Q：如何預防豬流感？

A：其實和一般預防流感的做法雷同，避免到人多的地方，不要跟他人一起吃一盤食物或一杯飲料，避免握手、親吻，最好常洗手。感冒者請勿進出公共場所，若非得出入公共場所請戴口罩。周遭有人咳嗽請立即遠離，外出回家後請嚴格執行洗手。

Q：怎傳染豬流感？

A：它的傳染是經由打噴嚏、咳嗽或身體接觸散播病毒，曾有專家懷疑吃豬肉是不是也會傳染，但現在已經排除吃肉會傳染的可能。

Q：豬流感疫區？

A：美國疾管局證實豬流感會人傳人，疫區在墨西哥已有81人死亡，上千多人感染，和鄰近墨西哥的美國，也出現19個確定病例，另外有75位高中生疑似感染待確認。

（Q/A摘自今日新聞  新聞小辭典）

 

世衛︰豬流感恐爆發大流行

墨西哥衛生官員已要求民眾盡量待在家裡，就算出門逛街或搭乘大眾運輸工具也要戴口罩。許多墨西哥市通勤族在搭乘地鐵時都戴上口罩，連小寶寶也不例外（法新社）。

〔編譯羅彥傑、管淑平�綜合二十五日外電報導〕墨西哥與美國爆發人染豬流感疫情，在墨西哥已造成至少六十八人死亡，引發全球關注。世界衛生組織（ＷＨＯ）二十五日在日內瓦召開緊急會議，特地中斷美國行程趕回開會的世衛總幹事陳馮富珍在會前向記者表示，這起豬流感疫情正迅速發展，「ＷＨＯ評估認為情況嚴重，必須非常密切監測」，疫情會如何發展「難以預測」，而且因其能感染人，「有爆發大流行的可能」。

陳馮富珍在ＷＨＯ位於瑞士的「戰略衛生行動中心」（ＳＨＯＣ）聽取簡報後指出，「我們尚未充分了解疫情或其風險全貌，包括是否散布到目前感染區以外的地區」，呼籲其他國家提高警覺，對不尋常疾病、肺炎病例增加和是否在正常流感季節之外爆發類似流感疫情加強監測。至於是否發布旅遊警示，陳馮富珍說，現在「言之過早」，需要更多疫情資料和分析。

世衛可能提高警戒層級 專家稱為時已晚

這場會議討論是否要提高流行病警戒等級或發布旅遊警告，目前世衛的流行病警戒等級為第三級，意指沒有或者非常有限的人傳人新病毒蔓延風險。世衛發言人哈特說，基於從墨西哥初步得到的證據顯示病毒已能人傳人，可能考慮提高警戒層級。但著名的全球大流感專家、美國明尼蘇達大學公衛教授歐思特荷姆說，要遏止疫情爆發恐怕為時已晚。他說，鑒於流感會在全球快速散播，如果一個地方已經有爆發流行的跡象，那麼其他地方可能正有病例潛伏。

ＷＨＯ表示，墨西哥有十二名病患的病毒基因和Ａ型H1N1型豬流感病毒株相同，而此型病毒也出現在後來康復的美國加州與德州八名病患身上。

墨西哥市 暫停所有公共活動10天

墨西哥政府表示，該病毒已造成二十人死亡，另外四十八人的死亡也可能是同一種病毒株造成。大多數死者都是青壯年，年齡介於二十五歲至四十五歲之間，因此更讓人憂心，因為季節性流感造成的老人與兒童死亡人數較多。總計全墨西哥有一千零四件疑似病例。這種病毒先前未在豬隻或人類身上發現。

墨西哥市已經宣布所有公共活動都暫停十天，以便當局遏止疫情蔓延，墨西哥市長艾柏拉德也表示，當局有足夠醫藥治療感染者，但是目前重點是要控制住疫情。墨西哥衛生部長柯多瓦強調，死亡率似乎已穩定下來。

紐約75名學生出現類流感 有人去過墨國

根據紐約時報報導，紐約皇后區聖法蘭西斯預備學校通報約七十五名出現類流感症狀的中學生，「其中有一些據稱最近去過墨西哥。」目前防疫當局尚未確認這些學生確實感染豬流感，但已對學校進行消毒作為預防措施。（自由時報）

（以下為NY TIMES的報導）

MEXICO CITY — This sprawling capital was on edge Saturday as jittery residents ventured out wearing surgical masks and President Felipe Calderón published an order that would give his government emergency powers to address a deadly flu outbreak, including isolating those who have contracted the virus, inspecting the homes of affected people and ordering the cancellation of public events.

Of those Mexicans who did go out in public, many took the advice of the authorities and donned the masks, which are known here as tapabocas, or cover-your-mouths, and were being handed out by soldiers and health workers at subway stops and on street corners.

“My government will not delay one minute to take all the necessary measures to deal with this epidemic,” Mr. Calderón said in Oaxaca State during the opening of a new hospital, which he said would set aside an area for anyone who might be affected by the new swine flu strain that has already killed as many as 81 people in Mexico and sickened more than 1,300 others.

Mr. Calderón pointed out that he and the other officials who attended the ceremony intentionally did not greet each other with handshakes or kisses on the cheek, which health officials have urged Mexicans to avoid.

At a news conference Saturday night to address the crisis, Mexico’s health minister, José Ángel Córdova, said 20 of the 81 reported deaths were confirmed to have been caused by swine flu, while the rest are being studied. Most of the cases of illness were reported in the center of the country, but there were other cases in pockets to the north and south.

The government also announced at the news conference that schools in and around the capital that serve millions of students would remain closed until May 6.

With 20 million people packed together tight, Mexico City typically bursts forth on the weekends into parks, playgrounds, cultural centers and sidewalk cafes. But things were quieter than usual on Saturday.

The government encouraged people to stay home by canceling concerts, closing museums and banning spectators from two big soccer matches on Sunday that will be played in front of television cameras, but no live crowd.

At street corners on Saturday, even many of the jugglers, dancers and musicians who eke out a living collecting spare change when the traffic lights turn red were wearing bright blue surgical masks.

The newspaper Reforma reported that President Obama, who recently visited Mexico, was escorted around Mexico City’s national anthropology museum on April 16 by Felipe Solis, an archaeologist who died the next day from flu-like symptoms. But Dr. Córdova said that it does not appear that Mr. Solis died of influenza.

White House officials said Saturday that they were aware of the news reports in Mexico but that there was no reason to be concerned about Mr. Obama’s health, that he had no symptoms and that his medical staff had recommended he not be tested.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said Saturday that it had sent a team of experts to Mexico to assist with the investigation of the outbreak, which has already been reported in Texas and California and possibly in New York, raising fears that it could spread into a global pandemic.

The possible New York cases were reported at a Queens high school, where eight students tested positive for a type of influenza that health officials suspect could be the new swine flu. Some of the school’s students had traveled to Mexico recently.

Still, the World Health Organization, which held a meeting on Saturday to discuss the outbreak, chose not to raise the level of global pandemic flu alert, which has been at a Level 3 because of the avian flu.

Epidemiologists want to know exactly when the first cases occurred in Mexico. Mexican health officials said they first noticed a huge spike in flu cases in late March. In mid-April, they began noticing that otherwise healthy people were dying from the virus. But it was only on Thursday night that officials first sounded an alarm to the population by closing schools, after United States health officials announced a possible swine flu outbreak.

By issuing the emergency decree Saturday, Mr. Calderón may have been trying to head off criticism that his government had been too slow to act. He had earlier called in the army to distribute four million masks throughout the capital and its suburbs.

Lt. Raymundo Morales Merla, who stood outside a military transport truck parked outside a downtown subway station on Saturday, led a group of 27 soldiers who had arrived at 7 a.m. to hand out as many masks as they could.

The scene at the airport was alarming, with doctors stationed at the entrances to answer questions and to keep an eye out for obviously sick people. Regular public address announcements in English and Spanish warned travelers that anyone exhibiting any symptoms should cancel their flight and immediately seek medical attention.

Even Sunday Mass will probably be affected. The Roman Catholic Church gave worshipers the option to listen to Masses on the radio and told priests who decided to hold services to be brief and put Communion wafers in worshipers’ hands instead of their mouths.

Axel de la Macorra, 46, a physics professor at National Autonomous University of Mexico, said he became worried when he learned recently that a 31-year-man who played at a tennis club he once belonged to had suddenly died. “He got sick at the beginning of April and two weeks later, he was dead,” said Mr. de la Macorra, who was weighing whether to attend a First Communion with 200 guests on Saturday.

“My mother told me to wear it so I did,” said Noel Ledezma, 29, who had his mask pulled down so he could sip a coffee and eat a muffin as he walked to work. “Who knows who will be next.”

Sarahe Gomez, who was selling jewelry at a mall in the upscale Polanco neighborhood, spoke through a mask to the few customers who visited her kiosk. “I’m in the middle of all these people and one of them could have it,” she said. “The virus could be anywhere. It could be right here.”

She then took a half step back.

“This is no joke,” said Servando Peneda, 42, a lawyer who ventured out to pay a bill, but left his two sons home. “There’s 20 million of us in this city and I’d say half of us have these masks on today. I know all of us will die one day, but I want to last out the week.”

Antonio Betancourt contributed reporting from Mexico City, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington.