4 œ theSun | THURSDAY APRIL 30 2009

news without borders

Governments test
Farmers want immediate for H1N1 virus
MEXICO CITY: Governments “In the last few days there

approval of pig vaccinations

by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SUBANG JAYA: The Federation
of Livestock Farmers Associations
of Malaysia yesterday demanded
immediate approval from the
Veterinary Services Department
(VSD) of a H1N1 vaccine for pigs
to prevent the spread of a deadly
strain of swine flu.
The federation’s pig unit chair-
man Beh Kim Hee said after a
meeting with the VSD on Monday
that the federation was waiting
only for approval as a company
had already applied to import the
vaccine.
“We also hope that the govern-
ment will bear the cost of the vac-
cine,” he told a press conference
at the federation’s headquarters
here.
On Monday, VSD director-
general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz
Jamaluddin said pigs should be
injected with the H1N1 vaccine
as a preventive measure and that
the department was waiting for a
directive from the Health Ministry
to vaccinate livestock.
The federation’s market dev-
elopment manager Dr Khaw
REUTERSPIX
Eng Sun, a veterinarian, said that
although the vaccine had not been
used on pigs locally, the federation
had applied for it five years ago as
experts had foreseen a possible
outbreak of disease.
Asked if it would be too late for
the vaccine now, Beh said he was
confident the vaccine could be
flown in promptly once approved
as the H1N1 virus had yet to be
detected in pigs locally.
He also said state VSDs had met
with pig farmers nationwide yes-
terday to brief them on preventive
measures to detect possible swine
flu infections. The federation
would adhere to all VSD directives
to keep farms free of the disease,
he said.
“The VSD is monitoring the
health status of 797 pig farms in
the country and we will support
and cooperate with them.”
Beh said the federation would
support a ban on the import of
live pigs, frozen pork and pork
products.
“We urge the government to
be vigilant in preventing frozen
pork being smuggled in. We are
saddened that pork importers
are still adamant in wanting
to import pork products.”
03-
around the world tested patients
for the new H1N1 swine flu virus
yesterday, hoping not to find it.
The World Health Organisation
doled out a steady toll of figures,
saying the virus had officially
been confirmed in Mexico, the
United States, Canada, New Zea-
land, Britain, Israel and Spain.
But at the same time officials
said the numbers were not a
clear indicator of the threat
posed by the virus, as it takes
days to confirm the new strain
and most countries began taking
action the moment suspected
cases turned up.
The US Centres for Disease
Control and Prevention was
working to distribute test kits for
the virus, identified only last week
in the country. Without the kits,
verifying infection can take days.
Employees of a Mexico, the epicentre of the
pharmaceutical outbreak, has 159 reported deaths
company in while US officials said a 23-month-
Seoul, South old boy had died in Texas.
Korea give Mexico Health Minister Jose
out free Angel Cordova said on Tuesday
face masks that more than 1,300 people were
yesterday to in hospitals, some “seriously” ill,
promote the out of a total of around 2,500
prevention suspected cases of the virus.
of swine flu
S’pore raises alert
SINGAPORE: Fifteen more peo-
ple, who mostly recently returned
from the US, were referred to the
Communicable Disease Centre
and a hospital here on Tuesday
has been a decline (in cases).
The death figures have remained
more or less stable,” he said.
Cordova said the victims
ranged from children through
young adults and middle-aged to
the elderly, a different pattern to
common seasonal flu that mainly
kills the elderly and people with
other underlying conditions.
US officials confirmed 65
cases, mostly mild, but acting
CDC director Dr Richard Besser
found little comfort in that.
“Numbers when it comes to an
outbreak like this will change,”
he said. “As we continue to
investigate cases here, I expect
we will see deaths.”
The WHO has edged up its
pandemic warning to a stage 4
and said if it looked like people
with no connection to Mexico
were infecting more than just
one other person, it would dec-
lare a stage 5 alert, meaning a
pandemic was imminent.
Mexico City was quiet with
schools closed. Many took their
children in to work, including
a ruling party lawmaker whose
young kids spent the day in Con-
gress. – Reuters
further observation. – Bernama
Klang Valley pork
sales down
PETALING JAYA: The swine flu
scare and poor public knowledge

for observation for swine flu. of how it is spread have caused

30

US reports first swine flu death 88

10200
/ The Health Ministry said three some to shun eating pork, result-
8

WASHINGTON: A Mexican toddler in Texas
has died of the H1N1 flu strain, the first
confirmed death outside Mexico from a
virus which health officials fear could
cause a pandemic as it spread to two more
countries in Europe.
Nearly a week after the threat emerged
in Mexico, US officials said yesterday a
23-month-old boy had died in the state
bordering Mexico.
A Houston city health official said the
baby was Mexican, fell ill two weeks ago
in the US border town of Brownsville and
died in a Houston hospital.
“It is important for everyone to know
that while the death occurred here in
Houston ... this child is a resident of Mexico
who travelled to Texas to visit family,” said
Dr David Persse, Houston emergency
medical services director.
Another death in Los Angeles was also
being investigated by US authorities.
The number of confirmed cases in the US
also rose to 91 in 10 states, the US Centres
for Disease Control and Prevention said, up
from 65 cases in six states the day before.
Germany reported its first three infec-
tions and Austria one, taking to nine the
number of countries known to be affected.
France said it would seek today a Eu-
ropean Union ban on
flights to Mexico because
of the influenza outbreak. Argentina and
Cuba have already banned them.
The EU, the US and Canada have
advised against non-essential travel to
the popular tourist destination. Like the
toddler in the US, all seven new cases in
Europe had recently been in Mexico.
They comprised a Bavarian couple in their
30s, a 22-year-old woman from Hamburg, a
28-year-old Austrian, now recovering, and
three Britons with mild symptoms – adults in
London and Birmingham and a girl aged 12
in southwest England. – Reuters/AFP
of the cases including two ref-
erred on Monday had all tested
negative for Influenza A, the
virus type associated with swine
flu and circulating strains.
In a statement, it said the gov-
ernment had also raised its alert
level from green to yellow yester-
day to better enable the handling
of situations where there might
be isolated imported cases but
no sustained local transmission.
The ministry said that as of
Tuesday, there were no human
cases of swine flu although 17
cases had been referred for
ing in a drop of more than 20% in
sales in the Klang Valley.
Traditionally, the prices of
pork go up ahead of the dump-
ling festival which falls on May
28, but daily news reports of the
flu and a global alert are sending
prices down, although there are
no reported cases in Malaysia.
Selangor and Federal Territory
Butchers Association president
Lee Bing Fook told Oriental Daily
News that although the outbreak
had cast a pall over the pig farm-
ing industry, the impact on pork
sales was “not that big” yet.