More cases of swine flu reported; WHO warns of 'health emergency'

More cases of swine flu reported; WHO warns of 'health emergency'

Twenty-two students and three teachers in New Zealand, who returned from a three-week-long language trip to Mexico, may have been infected with the swine flu virus, officials said Sunday.
Women wearing masks wait at a health clinic Saturday in Mexico City.

Women wearing masks wait at a health clinic Saturday in Mexico City.
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The suspected infections in New Zealand follow reports that a deadly new strain of the virus cropped up in more places in the United States and Mexico on Saturday.

The World Health Organization is calling the virus "a public health emergency of international concern."

The 25 students and teachers at Auckland's Rangitoto College returned to New Zealand via Los Angeles on Saturday.

Fourteen of them have shown flu-like symptoms, with four "more unwell than others," said Dr. Julia Peters, clinical director of Auckland Regional Public Health Service.

The New Zealand health ministry informed the students and their families of provisional results of tests it conducted on the group. However, the World Health Organization will make the final determination after testing the specimens, Peters said.

She would not say what the provisional results indicated. The WHO results are expected back by midweek. The group remains quarantined at home.

"We're basically treating them as possible, probable cases," Peters added.
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According to the most recent reports, the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States stands at 11.

They include nine confirmed cases at or near the Mexican border in Texas and California, and an apparent outbreak at a private school in New York City.

All the patients have recovered or are expected to.

In Mexico, health officials said 81 deaths there were "likely linked" to the swine flu. Video Watch efforts in Mexico to prevent spread of the virus »

U.S. health officials said Friday that some cases of the virus matched samples of the deadly Mexican virus.

Gregory Hartl, of the World Health Organization, said the strain of the virus seen in Mexico is worrisome because it has mutated from older strains. Video Watch how public health officials grade phases of pandemic alerts »

"Any time that there is a virus which changes ... it means perhaps the immunities the human body has built up to dealing with influenza might not be adjusted well enough to dealing with this new virus," Hartl said.

He said that, in Mexico, otherwise young, healthy people have been hit by the virus -- "one of the pieces of the puzzle that is worrying us," he said.

Mexico City has closed all of its schools and universities until further notice because of the virus.

More than 1,300 people with flu-like symptoms have been admitted to hospitals in Mexico, and officials are trying to determine how many of them have swine flu, said Jose Cordova Villalobos, the country's health minister.
Health Library

* MayoClinic.com: Influenza (flu)

The H1N1 strain of swine flu is usually associated with pigs. When the flu spreads person-to-person, instead of from animals to humans, it can continue to mutate, making it a tougher strain that is harder to treat or fight off.

The United States had not issued any travel warnings or quarantines.

But US Airways said Saturday night it would allow passengers to change plans if they wanted to because of the outbreak.

Airline spokeswoman Michelle Mohr said it was not asking people not to travel to Mexico, but wanted to "give them that flexibility" if "they don't feel comfortable."

The Canadian Public Health Agency had issued a travel health notice, saying, "The Public Health Agency of Canada is tracking clusters of severe respiratory illness with deaths in Mexico." Video Watch CBC report on Canadian microbiologists' concerns »

Symptoms of swine flu include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, the CDC said. Learn more about swine flu and how to treat it »
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U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited Mexico last week en route to the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, is not sick.

"The president's trip to Mexico has not put his health in any danger," spokesman Robert Gibbs said.