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Swine flu deaths likely in Canada, says top medical officer
By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The country's top medical official warned Monday that the numbers of Canadians sick with swine flu will swell and some will likely die from the illness.
"Simply because we're seeing mild symptoms so far does not mean we can take this for granted," said David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer.
"We will likely see more cases. We will likely see more severe illnesses. And we will, likely - unfortunately - see some deaths, as well."
The grim prognosis came as Canada mulled issuing an advisory warning against non-essential travel to Mexico because of the swine flu outbreak there.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has already issued health alert notices urging travellers to take precautionary measures such as getting a flu shot, frequently washing their hands and covering coughs and sneezes.
Canada also battened its hatches by declaring all temporary foreign workers from Mexico must now undergo a pre-departure examination performed by two doctors.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has dispatched two officials to Mexico City to help their Mexican counterparts with screening and laboratory work.
The virus quickly spread around the globe Monday. There are now 40 confirmed cases in the U.S. - twice the number reported over the weekend by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Spain also confirmed one case of swine flu - the first in Europe - and health officials in Scotland confirmed Britain's first two cases. More cases were suspected but not confirmed in New Zealand, France and Israel.
In response, the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert for a new strain of swine flu by one level on its six-point scale to a phase-four alert.
A phase four alert means there is sustained human-to-human transmission in at least one country. It is two steps short of declaring a full pandemic.
On April 1, Canadian health officials forwarded a report to the WHO by Canadian-led Global Health Security Action Group after discovering what was thought to be an isolated case of a mystery flu in a small Mexican village.
It wasn't known at the time that the case was the same strain of swine flu that has so far killed 149 Mexicans and sickened some 2,000 others.
"There's always stuff going on everywhere in the world all the time," Butler-Jones said.
"You just don't know at the time whether this is something that will break out. There was nothing to indicate that this was a totally new virus until we were contacted by the Mexicans and they're saying, 'We're finding something funny here.'
"We had a sense that something was going on, but we didn't really have any more sense about that than anywhere else in the world."
Unease over the illness's impact on the battered global economy precipitated a drop in world stock markets, with airlines taking the brunt of sell-off as investors fretted that the outbreak could derail an embryonic recovery.
Canadian officials have been careful to point out that the six cases reported by Monday in British Columbia and Nova Scotia have been mild.
After several countries issued advisories or advice about travelling to Canada, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan warned against "overreaction," saying such measures are premature.
"There's a fairly diffuse effect across the world. I think, right now, we're at a stage where the six cases in Canada are relatively mild," he said.
"I think that travel bans being issued in every direction over fairly low levels of cases popping up is probably an overreaction. . . . I think countries should prudent in only taking that step if there's clear evidence or if there's a very real danger and risk."
It wasn't clear when Canada might issue its travel advisory. The United States was poised to join other countries, including India, Malaysia and the European Union, in readying a travel advisory instructing Americans to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico as the number of cases rose there.
Roughly 19,000 people travel between Canada and Mexico during an average week in April, said Kamran Khan, an infectious disease specialist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
Canadian customs agents at airports are on the lookout for anyone with flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills, severe cough, and respiratory distress.
That mirrors measures taken by Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, who say they will quarantine visitors showing such symptoms.
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said the government has a six-point plan to deal with the threat, including: monitoring flu cases, international co-operation, research on vaccine development, stockpiles of anti-viral medication, health services, and communications.
She advised again about the importance of prevention measures such as regular hand washing.
Compared to the ordinary flu that many Canadians catch each year, swine flu has so far been quite mild.
The Public Health Agency's website says on average, the common flu sends about 20,000 Canadians to hospital each year. Between 4,000 and 8,000 Canadians can die of influenza and its complications annually, depending on the severity of the season.
By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The country's top medical official warned Monday that the numbers of Canadians sick with swine flu will swell and some will likely die from the illness.
"Simply because we're seeing mild symptoms so far does not mean we can take this for granted," said David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer.
"We will likely see more cases. We will likely see more severe illnesses. And we will, likely - unfortunately - see some deaths, as well."
The grim prognosis came as Canada mulled issuing an advisory warning against non-essential travel to Mexico because of the swine flu outbreak there.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has already issued health alert notices urging travellers to take precautionary measures such as getting a flu shot, frequently washing their hands and covering coughs and sneezes.
Canada also battened its hatches by declaring all temporary foreign workers from Mexico must now undergo a pre-departure examination performed by two doctors.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has dispatched two officials to Mexico City to help their Mexican counterparts with screening and laboratory work.
The virus quickly spread around the globe Monday. There are now 40 confirmed cases in the U.S. - twice the number reported over the weekend by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Spain also confirmed one case of swine flu - the first in Europe - and health officials in Scotland confirmed Britain's first two cases. More cases were suspected but not confirmed in New Zealand, France and Israel.
In response, the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert for a new strain of swine flu by one level on its six-point scale to a phase-four alert.
A phase four alert means there is sustained human-to-human transmission in at least one country. It is two steps short of declaring a full pandemic.
On April 1, Canadian health officials forwarded a report to the WHO by Canadian-led Global Health Security Action Group after discovering what was thought to be an isolated case of a mystery flu in a small Mexican village.
It wasn't known at the time that the case was the same strain of swine flu that has so far killed 149 Mexicans and sickened some 2,000 others.
"There's always stuff going on everywhere in the world all the time," Butler-Jones said.
"You just don't know at the time whether this is something that will break out. There was nothing to indicate that this was a totally new virus until we were contacted by the Mexicans and they're saying, 'We're finding something funny here.'
"We had a sense that something was going on, but we didn't really have any more sense about that than anywhere else in the world."
Unease over the illness's impact on the battered global economy precipitated a drop in world stock markets, with airlines taking the brunt of sell-off as investors fretted that the outbreak could derail an embryonic recovery.
Canadian officials have been careful to point out that the six cases reported by Monday in British Columbia and Nova Scotia have been mild.
After several countries issued advisories or advice about travelling to Canada, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan warned against "overreaction," saying such measures are premature.
"There's a fairly diffuse effect across the world. I think, right now, we're at a stage where the six cases in Canada are relatively mild," he said.
"I think that travel bans being issued in every direction over fairly low levels of cases popping up is probably an overreaction. . . . I think countries should prudent in only taking that step if there's clear evidence or if there's a very real danger and risk."
It wasn't clear when Canada might issue its travel advisory. The United States was poised to join other countries, including India, Malaysia and the European Union, in readying a travel advisory instructing Americans to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico as the number of cases rose there.
Roughly 19,000 people travel between Canada and Mexico during an average week in April, said Kamran Khan, an infectious disease specialist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
Canadian customs agents at airports are on the lookout for anyone with flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills, severe cough, and respiratory distress.
That mirrors measures taken by Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, who say they will quarantine visitors showing such symptoms.
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said the government has a six-point plan to deal with the threat, including: monitoring flu cases, international co-operation, research on vaccine development, stockpiles of anti-viral medication, health services, and communications.
She advised again about the importance of prevention measures such as regular hand washing.
Compared to the ordinary flu that many Canadians catch each year, swine flu has so far been quite mild.
The Public Health Agency's website says on average, the common flu sends about 20,000 Canadians to hospital each year. Between 4,000 and 8,000 Canadians can die of influenza and its complications annually, depending on the severity of the season.
