MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- About 35,000 public venues in Mexico City were shut down or told to serve only takeout meals Tuesday as officials tried to contain a deadly swine flu outbreak.
Concerned residents line up outside a pharmacy Monday in Mexico City, Mexico.
Concerned residents line up outside a pharmacy Monday in Mexico City, Mexico.
Click to view previous image
1 of 3
Click to view next image
more photos »
Authorities ordered restaurants to serve only takeout food and also mandated the closing of bars, clubs, theaters, pool halls, gyms, sport centers and convention halls until May 6, said Juan Jose Garcia Ochoa, a top city government official.
City officials did not shut down public transportation because only the federal government can do that, Garcia said. But city officials have asked the Mexican government to take that step, he said.
"That's a very serious and extreme matter," he said.
Officials on Friday closed schools in the city and extended that order nationwide Monday until at least May 6.
Mexican officials said they have confirmed 20 deaths from swine flu and are looking at more than 130 other deaths to determine how many may have been caused by the virus. The World Health Organization's latest report listed seven confirmed deaths from swine flu in Mexico.
By early Tuesday, the swine flu outbreak in Mexico was suspected in more than 1,600 illnesses, the country's health minister said. Video Watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta inside a Mexico City hospital »
Mexico seems to be the epicenter of the outbreak, but it is by no means the only country affected.
Gupta in Mexico
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta traces the origins of the swine flu. What's the real risk of pandemic?
Tonight, 10 ET
see full schedule »
At least 113 cases have been confirmed worldwide, including 64 in the United States, six in Canada, 11 in New Zealand, two each in Spain and the United Kingdom, and one in Israel. Of the U.S. cases, 45 are in New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With at least 11 other countries suspecting infections, the World Health Organization on Monday raised its alert level from three to four on its six-level scale.
The move means the agency has determined that the virus is capable of significant human-to-human transmission -- a major step toward a pandemic but not necessarily inevitable, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of WHO.
"In this age of global travel, where people move around in airplanes so quickly, there is no region to which this virus could not spread," Fukada said.
Americans planning to go to Mexico should put off their trips, said Dr. Richard Besser, acting head of the CDC. Video Watch Besser on travel safety »
"Based on what I know as a public health official and as a physician, I would not recommend people go on nonessential travel," Besser said Tuesday on CNN's "American Morning." "If I had vacation plans in Mexico coming up right now, I'd look to postpone those."
On Tuesday, Mexico City was a metropolis under siege. Armed police officers guarded hospitals. Roads and schools in the city of 20 million were deserted. Blue masks shielded the faces of mothers and babies.
"I'm pretty nervous of this whole virus thing," Berta Hernandez said as she touched up her eyeliner inside a packed and humid subway car. She did not dare lift her surgical mask to put on lip gloss.
"I'm nervous of the people who aren't wearing masks. Maybe they will suddenly sneeze or cough."
Mexico City officials decided not to shut down restaurants, hoping to minimize the economic impact. But restaurants that don't comply with the takeout-only order will be shut down and may be fined, said Garcia, the city official.
Governments around the world scrambled to prevent further outbreak. Learn more about swine flu and how to treat it »
Don't Miss
* Hand-washing is key to prevention
* How countries are trying to prevent swine flu outbreak
* Dr. Sanjay Gupta "tweets" on swine flu
* Watch videos on swine flu outbreak
Some countries, such as China and Russia, banned pork imports from the United States and Mexico. Several others, such as Japan and Indonesia, used thermographic devices to test the temperature of passengers arriving from Mexico.
The Philippines health department urged people to avoid kissing and hugging in public.
President Obama said Monday that the outbreak is a cause for concern, not for alarm. The U.S. government urged travelers to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico. iReport.com: Are you worried about swine flu?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for the use of two of the most common anti-viral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza. The authorization allows the distribution of the drugs by a broader range of health care workers and loosens age limits for their use.
The median age of all the U.S. cases is 16 years.
Arianna Anastos is a student at a Queens, New York, preparatory school where 28 of the U.S. cases were confirmed after students returned from a trip to Cancun, Mexico.
Anastos was not among the group but said she thinks she may have caught the flu from someone else.
By Saturday, Anastos felt dizzy, had difficulty breathing, and her fever shot up to 103.
"She looked like she was run over by a truck really," said her father, Chris. "She was on the couch lying down with her eyes closed. Could not move. Could not even open her eyes. I had a wet towel over her eyes to keep her temperature down."
A trip to the hospital and a prescription for anti-viral medication helped Anastos recover. She said she felt better after two doses.
In Mexico City, however, there is a shortage of such medication. And the government ran out of surgical masks after handing them out to one of every five residents. iReport.com: "Regular life" in Mexico with masks
Panicked citizens continue to flood hospitals night and day, only to be turned around by armed guards.
"I was looking for a mask at my local pharmacy, but they sold out," supermarket worker Rafael Martinez said as he rode the subway. "I know it's a risk, but I can't find one."
Swine influenza, or flu, is a contagious respiratory disease that affects pigs.
When the flu spreads person to person, instead of from animals to humans, it can continue to mutate, making it harder to treat or fight, because people have no natural immunity. Video Watch why swine flu is a "sloppy virus" »
Symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
For perspective, the common seasonal flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 people every year.
"I think the reason to be concerned is ... we had a vaccine for regular flu," said Dr. Carlos del Rio of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. "This is a totally new virus. ... You have a virus to which there's no pre-vaccination, there's no prior immunity. And, therefore, the mortality rate may be higher than other influenza viruses." iReport.com: Swine flu's effect on the poor
Researchers do not know how the virus is jumping relatively easily from person to person, or why it's affecting society's healthiest demographic.
"When you think about the flu, the seasonal flu, the flu that we're accustomed to, it typically tends to have the worst ramifications in people that don't have developed immune systems -- the elderly and the very young. They can't fight it off," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent. Video Watch Gupta on projections of the virus' spread »
advertisement
"What's counterintuitive with this particular virus, it's in the people who have robust immune systems," Gupta said. "As their body starts to respond, to try and fight off that virus, they produce tons of inflammatory cells. Those inflammatory cells can sort of flood the lungs.
"So, in essence, it's not the virus itself that's so problematic, but the body's reaction to it."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment