...at least not right now:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/ ... 90424.html

"WHO voices 'heightened concern' over 800 flu-like cases in Mexico
Most cases occurring in healthy young adults, world health agency spokesman says
Last Updated: Friday, April 24, 2009 | 7:22 AM ET

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl says most of the cases of flu-like symptoms in Mexico have been reported among healthy adults. (CBC)The World Health Organization expressed "heightened concern" on Friday over more than 800 "influenza-like" cases reported in Mexico, after seven cases of a severe respiratory illness were confirmed in two U.S. border states.

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told CBC News on Friday that health officials are dealing with three separate events in Mexico, with most of the 828 cases in and around the capital, Mexico City.

At least 24 cases have been reported in the central region, while four have been reported in the north. The mystery illness has led to at least 20 deaths in the country.

Most of the cases have occurred in healthy young adults, Hartl said.

"Because these cases are not happening in the very old or the very young, which is normal with seasonal influenza, this is an unusual event and a cause for heightened concern," Hartl said in an interview from WHO headquarters in Geneva.

It is also rare to see such high flu activity so late in the season, he said.

"The end of April, especially in a place like Mexico, you would think that we would see quite a steep decline," said Hartl.

All classes cancelled in Mexico City
A Mexican Health Ministry statement issued on Thursday afternoon said the country "was in the presence of a new influenza virus that constitutes a respiratory epidemic which is controllable, so far."

But laboratory tests on the 828 Mexican cases have yet to confirm the patients are suffering from influenza, or what strain it might be, Hartl said.

The Mexican government ordered that all classes in Mexico City and the surrounding state be cancelled on Friday, from pre-schools to universities. It also has warned the public to avoid gathering places and major events.

On Thursday, Canadian health officials issued a travel advisory warning travellers who have recently returned from Mexico to be on alert for flu-like symptoms that could be connected to the illness.

In the U.S., health officials were scrambling this week to deal with a new strain of swine flu, which has been diagnosed in seven people in Texas and California.

The states share a border with Mexico not far from a town where two deaths were reported.

The U.S. cases are unusual, because it appears none of the patients had contact with pigs, and the virus is one that health officials have never seen before.

No cases of this swine flu have been found in Canada.

Samples positive for influenza A and B
The cause of the illness has not been confirmed. Mexican health officials said samples so far have tested positive for influenza A and B.

People infected with the virus initially suffer flu-like symptoms that include:

Fever.
Cough.
Sore throat.
Muscle and joint pain.
Shortness of breath.
The illness may elevate to a severe respiratory illness within about five days.

In Canada, the travel advisory includes the same advice given to all travellers: Get a flu shot and take precautions such as covering coughs and staying home when sick. But it also adds locations in Mexico where cases of a severe respiratory illness have occurred."

Lets say hypothetically you had a vacation set for next week in Mexico City, would you cancel it?

Pandemic outbreak might be the most likely to occur of the big potential threats to mankind, and it's probably the one we've been the most desensitized to. People treat these news flashes the way they treat Monday morning weather reports about the upcoming weekend.

800 in a city of like...10 millions?

There's really not enough information in the article to discern anything substantive. It's clear that the seven American cases are swine flu, but there is no information on the person-to-person transmissibility. That is key for a pandemic strain. Also, the fact that Mexican officials are reporting both flu A and flu B confuses the issue. What strains have been associated with the most severe cases? And are these reports based on analysis of nasal washes or swabs, or are they based on serology?

Remember that even in a pandemic the vast majority of cases are likely to be either subclinical or mild enough not to warrant a doctor visit.

Mexico City girls found me the hottest guy on Earth, so they will always have my love.

Where did they find him?

i don't know a lot of details, but a lot of caution is being exercised/encouraged. all school classes at all levels were suspended today, and people are being told to avoid going out into crowds, specially if they feel even the faintest of symptoms.

hopefully it doesn't get out of hand.

I hear ya. Also there's been an update stating that the outbreak in Mexico City is in fact the swine flu. What's bizarre is that they explain that the flu was initially passed on from pig to pig, but somehow humans started getting it

Is this what we voted for, America?

These are all strains of the influenza virus. Generally, flu strains are only transmissible within species; however, influenza is an RNA virus, like HIV, and is thus subject to a very high mutation rate. Also, its genome exists in discrete segments that can be "reassorted," or reshuffled among different strains when they coinfect the same cell. Because of these factors, flu viruses can acquire the ability to cross species boundaries relatively easily. Swine flu infecting humans, avian flu infecting humans, human flu infecting birds, etc. The reason that crossing species boundaries is significant is that we generally haven't been exposed to all of the antigens in, say, the swine flu, so we will tend to have very little immune resistance, so the disease is more virulent than the circulating human strains. Often these species-crossing strains are not transmissible person-to-person, only bird to person as has been the case with the avian flu outbreaks. When they become transmissible person-to-person, then we have pandemic flu. Such as the Spanish flu of 1918-1919. The mortality profile for an emerging pandemic pathogen is characteristic. Young healthy adults, rather than the old, young, sick and immunosuppressed are often the victims because of the cytokine storm prompted by a young adult's ability to mount an extreme immune response.

win

Awesome. I'll be in Mexico this time next week. Not Mexico City, but still.

Early POTY nominee.

If you are tall and pale, enjoy success.

Best reply to a terrible post ever.

Envy!

It's in the US now. Your death is eminent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/nyreg ... ck.html?hp

my death is distinguished?

New York, huh? This is just proof that god hates the gays.