US reports first swine flu death

US reports first swine flu death
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: April 29 2009 11:40 | Last updated: April 29 2009 13:18
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95684290-349d-11de-940a-00144feabdc0.html


Workers disinfect a classroom in Canyon Creek Elementary School in Texas which was shut down hours before US authorities reported the first US death outside Mexico – of a 23-month-old child in Texas– from the virus

The US reported the first death outside Mexico from the swine flu virus on Wednesday as governments around the world stepped up preparations for a possible pandemic.

As Austria became the ninth country to report cases of the infection, a US government official confirmed to Reuters that a 23-month-old child had died in Texas from the new H1N1 virus.

Meanwhile, China lifted its objections to Taiwan attending the World Health Organisation’s annual meeting, in a powerful diplomatic gesture demonstrating the growing international political impact of the swine flu epidemic.

The Chinese move, a sign of broader political warming between the two foes, stands in contrast to tensions between other countries triggered by the rapid spread of the flu virus around the world.

Despite scientific advice to the contrary, Russia and China are among the nations to ban pork from Mexico and China, while many countries have advised cancelling non-essential travel to Mexico.

Egypt has ordered the culling of all pigs in the Arab country as a precaution against swine flu, the country’s health minister said.

Before Austria and Germany reported four new cases, the WHO said on Wednesday that at least 105 infections have been confirmed in seven countries – the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, New Zealand, Israel and Spain, as well as Mexico, where the outbreak started. Seven of the Mexican deaths have been confirmed as caused by the H1N1 virus and more than 150 are suspected to have resulted from infection.

The US death came less than 24 hours after Barack Obama sought an extra $1.5bn from Congress on Tuesday as the US sharply stepped up its response.

The US president called for a substantial increase in funding to help build stockpiles of antiviral drugs, work on vaccines and strengthen international co-operation as other countries escalated measures against a likely global pandemic.

His request came after a Senate committee heard that the disease was expected to spread after affecting at least six states and that cases might become more severe than the mild ones so far identified in the US.

The Centers for Disease Control reported a total 64 confirmed cases on Wednesday across the country, the worst affected after Mexico.

But in one sign of countries being drawn closer together by the threat, China dropped its perennial resistance to Taiwan attending the World Health Assembly. It stressed the two countries had intensified cooperation as fears grow of a global pandemic.

The UK, which by Wednesday had reported five cases, said leaflets about the swine flu virus would be distributed to all households next week. It also announced it was in talks to “urgently increase current stockpiles’’ of surgical face masks – to be used by health professionals such as nurses and doctors working with infected patients in the event of a pandemic.