Swine flu in Canada is mild

Swine flu confirmed in Canada
Unlike deadly outbreak in Mexico, the cases in Nova Scotia and B.C. were mild and didn't require hospitalization
April 26, 2009

Comments on this story (36)
STAR STAFF AND WIRE SERVICES

OTTAWA—Canadian health officials are rushing to contain the spread of swine flu through human contact after at least a half-dozen cases were confirmed in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

Cases in both provinces were linked to Mexican travel — but unlike the deadly outbreak in that country, the illnesses in Nova Scotia and B.C. patients were so mild that none required hospitalization.

“This indicates that — yes — swine influenza is present in Canada,” said Danuta Skowronski, of B.C.’s Centre for Disease Control.

“What we can say so far is that, in the United States and Canada, we’re not picking up those signals of severe respiratory illness that Mexico has been grappling with. . .

“This swine influenza virus does not automatically mean hospitalization and death. It may have just the typical influenza-type presentation and symptoms . . . This is not necessarily scary monsters.”

But she warned that Canadian experts expect more cases in this country and that the public-health system remains on high alert.

Skowronski said the two people on the B.C. Lower Mainland who have contracted the flu have been asked to “self-isolate” but have not been quarantined.

She advised anyone developing flu-like symptoms to stay home and not go to work. If their symptoms are serious enough to see a doctor, she said, they should advise their physician in advance that they intend to pay a visit.

Four students from King’s-Edgehill School, a private high school in Windsor, N.S., have been placed in isolation. Two of them recently travelled to Mexico. Health authorities in Nova Scotia say their symptoms are mild.

The illness has proven itself to be potentially deadly. Mexico’s health minister says the disease has killed up to 86 people and likely sickened up to 1,400 since April 13.

Health authorities in Nova Scotia said Sunday the students reported fatigue, muscle aches and coughing, but nothing out of the ordinary for people who suffer from the flu.

Nova Scotia’s chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang, said the four “very mild” cases of swine flu were detected in students ranging in age from 12 to 17 or 18. All are recovering, he said.

“It was acquired in Mexico, brought home and spread,” Strang said.

Health officials urged anyone who thinks they might be ill with flu-like symptoms to stay away from work or school, wash their hands and avoid coughing into their hands.

Although four students at the school have reported getting sick, only two of them went on a school trip to Mexico between April 1 and 8.

Health officials say between 20 and 23 students were on the trip.

“We have to keep things in perspective — it is a mild illness,” Strang said.

Although health officials say four students have tested positive for swine flu, 11 of 17 students they have contacted so far who were on the trip to Mexico did get ill.

Because swine flu is so new, most laboratories don’t have tests to identify them, and they show up as untypeable influenza A when tests are run.

Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon told CTV the federal cabinet has set up an operations committee and has been monitoring the swine flu situation closely.

Foreign Affairs has posted information on its website on the health situation in Mexico but is not telling Canadians to stay away from the country.

Although no cases of the flu strain have been confirmed in Ontario, 11 cases are being "looked at," said Steve Erwin, spokesperson for Ontario Minister of Health and Long-term Care David Caplan.

But that does not mean all those cases will be investigated or tested, he said.

The number of cases being looked at can change hourly, depending on when people seek medical advice.

He said the ministry would be issuing an update at about 5 p.m. today.

Although the situation is changing hour by hour, a Toronto expert cautioned against panic, noting that the latest confirmed cases in Nova Scotia were mild with none of the infected individuals requiring hospital care.

Around the world, countries from New Zealand to Spain reported suspected cases of swine flu and some warned citizens against travel to North America while others planned quarantines, tightened rules on pork imports and tested airline passengers for fevers.

Mexico, the United Satates and Canada were the only countries with confirmed human cases of swine flu Sunday as global health officials considered whether to raise the global pandemic alert level.

The news follows the World Health Organization’s decision Saturday to declare the outbreak first detected in Mexico and the United States a “public health emergency of international concern.”

U.S. officials say the virus has been found in New York, California, Texas, Kansas and Ohio, but so far no fatalities have been reported.

Governments including China, Russia and Taiwan began planning to put anyone with symptoms of the deadly virus under quarantine

Others were increasing their screening of pigs and pork imports from the Americas or banning them outright despite health officials’ reassurances that it was safe to eat thoroughly cooked pork.

Some nations issued travel warnings for Mexico and the United States.

WHO’s emergency committee is still trying to determine exactly how the virus has spread.

New Zealand said that 10 students who took a school trip to Mexico “likely” had swine flu. Israel said a man who had recently visited Mexico had been hospitalized while authorities try to determine whether he had the disease. French Health Ministry officials investigated four possible cases of swine flu, but three were later found to be negative.

Spanish authorities said a total of seven suspected cases were under observation.

Hong Kong and Taiwan said visitors who came back from flu-affected areas with fevers would be quarantined. China said anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arrival from an affected area had to report to authorities. A Russian health agency said any passenger from North America running a fever would be quarantined until the cause of the fever is determined.

Tokyo’s Narita airport installed a device to test the temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico.

Indonesia increased surveillance at all entry points for travellers with flu-like symptoms — using devices at airports that were put in place years ago to monitor for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and bird flu. It said it was ready to quarantine suspected victims if necessary.

Hong Kong and South Korea warned against travel to the Mexican capital and three affected provinces. Italy, Poland and Venezuela also advised their citizens to postpone travel to affected areas of Mexico and the United States.

Russia banned the import of meat products from Mexico, California, Texas and Kansas. South Korea said it would increase the number of its influenza virus checks on pork products from Mexico and the U.S.

thestar.com