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US declares swine flu outbreak a health emergency

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-27 17:07

World Health Organization (WHO) officials warned that the new strain, apparently born when human and avian flu viruses infected pigs and became mixed, could further mutate.

US immigration officials are looking for people with flu symptoms, said Napolitano.

"Travelers who do present with symptoms, if and when encountered, will be isolated per established rules," she said.

Acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Richard Besser, speaks during a press briefing on the swine flu outbreak in Washington, DC.  [Agencies]

"They will be provided both with personal protective equipment and we'll continue to emphasize universal hand washing."

Similar emergency health declarations were issued for floods in recent months in the US states of Minnesota and North Dakota and President Barack Obama's inauguration in January.

Napolitano said the government intends to release a quarter of the national stockpile of 50 million doses of the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza. The drugs would be made available to all US states, especially those with confirmed cases of the flu.

The Pentagon, she added, "has procured and strategically pre-positioned" seven million treatment courses of the flu drug Tamiflu.

In Mexico, President Felipe Calderon urged citizens to consult a doctor if they present flu-like symptoms.

Speaking at a National Health Council event on Sunday, Felipe Calderon said it was necessary for Mexicans to "move fast, but to maintain calm and cooperate with the authorities."

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