Swine flu 'more worrying' than bird flu

Posted 1 hour 26 minutes ago
Updated 1 hour 0 minutes ago

Swine flu: Mexico's Health Minister says the likely death toll has passed 100. (Reuters: Eliana Aponte)

An Australian infectious diseases expert says the threat from an outbreak of swine flu is greater than bird flu.

The probable death toll in Mexico from the outbreak has risen to 103 people, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova has told Mexican television.

The outbreak of a new strain of flu in Mexico in the last few days has stoked fears of a global epidemic as new cases crop up in the United States and Canada.

Possible infections are also being checked in Europe, Israel and New Zealand.

Professor Paul Kelly from the Australian National University says swine flu is more worrying to humans than bird flu because it has the potential to spread to more people.

"It doesn't seem to have as high a fatality rate as avian influenza but it does seem to be more easily spread and rather rapidly," he said.

"In terms of an epidemic, for the virus to be able to spread it's actually better for the virus for humans to remain alive because that can spread it more quickly and to a greater extent."

Professor Kelly said while swine flu had claimed many lives in Mexico, there had been no deaths elsewhere.

Those killed have been generally young and otherwise healthy.

"It's not the typical people that are a greatest risk during a normal flu season," he said.

Anti-viral drugs working

Meanwhile, Australian medical experts say that existing vaccines are unlikely to be effective against an outbreak of swine flu, but anti-viral drugs can help to combat it.

Health officials have given advice about the outbreak to GPs and hospital emergency departments and want any suspected cases to be reported to authorities.

The nation's chief medical officer Professor Jim Bishop says Australia is well-equipped to cope if the virus continues to spread.

The World Health Organisation Influenza Centre's Doctor Ian Barr says current vaccines are unlikely to work, but evidence from overseas shows that anti-viral drugs have helped.

"In the initial reports from the US from the CDC [Centre for Disease Control], the seven strains of their swine influenza were all susceptible to the influenza drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza," he said.

"They weren't susceptible to the older class of drug."

An Australian flu expert says that it is highly likely an outbreak of swine flu will become a global pandemic.

Professor Greg Tannock says the likelihood that the virus will spread worldwide.

"I'd say reasonably high, but just how virilent it'll be we don't know," he said.

"This is something that'll play itself out over the next six months, especially in the southern hemisphere with the flu season coming along."

Local response

Stricter surveillance measures will be imposed on people travelling from the Americas to Australia in response to the outbreak.

From midnight, the captains of all planes landing in Australia from the Americas will have to provide a report to the Quarantine Service on the health of all those on board.

Any passengers with flu-like symptoms will be seen by a Quarantine officer, who will check if medical attention is needed.

The Federal Government says the measures have been recommended by the chief medical officer.

The Government says travel advisories may also be changed as events unfold overseas.

A hotline will be set up for people with questions about the swine flu outbreak.

Authorities say five people in New South Wales and two people in Queensland - who'd been to the US and Mexico - have been tested for the virus.

The Greens want all passengers at international airports to be screened to guard against the spread of the disease.

'We're prepared'

A Western Australian health official says previous influenza scares have helped Australian health departments prepare for any new outbreak.

WA's chief health officer Dr Tarun Weeramanthri has told the ABC1's News Breakfast program that although the 2002 SARS outbreak did not reach Australia, health departments learnt from the situation.

"The public may have forgotten that epidemic but I think professionals haven't," he said.

"All of that experience is still deep in our system and in fact, it's been really reassuring on the weekend.

"We've been meeting regularly, we've got very very good experts around the country putting their heads together to [assess] what's appropriate at this stage."

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