Swine flu

2009-05-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

IS CHINA RIGHT OR WRONG?
By Mingkhwan Tantipark

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Hongkong hotel 'crack down'
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Mexico starts China flu airlift
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Source : BBC
Post : Tuesday, 5 May 2009 08:17 UK
Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8032446.stm

A Mexican woman arrives at the Mexican Embassy with luggage to catch a chartered flight out of Beijing, 5 May
Mexicans complain that they are being unfairly targeted

A Mexican plane has arrived in China to collect dozens of Mexicans who have been quarantined because of fears they may be infected with swine flu.

About 70 Mexicans were confined despite just one confirmed case of the virus.

The issue sparked a diplomatic row, with Mexico accusing China of targeting its citizens unfairly, and Beijing saying it was a "purely medical" issue.

Some 26 people have died of the virus in Mexico and more than 1,000 cases have been reported in 20 countries.

But just one fatality has been recorded outside Mexico - a two-year-old Mexican boy who died in the US while on a visit.

Second row brewing

The row between Mexico and China developed after a 25-year-old man who had flown from Mexico to Shanghai and Hong Kong was diagnosed with swine flu - or H1N1.

China decided to track down everyone on his flight and put them into quarantine. It also isolated everyone in the traveller's hotel in Hong Kong.

Mexican officials say more than 70 of their citizens in China have been confined. It is not yet clear whether or not these people had any contact with the infected traveller.

About 50 are being held in Shanghai in two five-star hotels, with 10 in Beijing and several more in the city of Wenzhou.

A charter plane landed in Shanghai at about 1300 local time (0500 GMT) to pick up the first group of Mexicans.

The flight will then stop in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong before returning to Mexico City.

One traveller quarantined in Beijing told Mexican radio that soldiers were guarding the hotel gates.

"This is like a kidnapping for us," Mirna Elisa Berlanga said. (Actually the people, who were in that hospital, were treated properly by . (Look at the article from a swine flu suferer, Briton Jonathan Davies, who sat in seat 22A, on China Airlines' flight MU505 from Shanghai to Hong Kong last Thursday, in http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8032759.stm)

Briton Jonathan Davies, who sat in seat 22A, on China Airlines' flight MU505 from Shanghai to Hong Kong last Thurday

Mexico has issued strongly-worded statements over the past few days condemning Beijing's response.

"I think it's unfair that, because we have been honest and transparent with the world, some countries and places are taking repressive and discriminatory measures because of ignorance and disinformation," said Mexican President Felipe Calderon. (China did not target only Maxican, but also others who was suspected as infected the virus. Actually, Mexico shouldn't blame because China found a person who got this virus after flew from Mexico to Shianghai. It is the Mexico's responsibility to control the dissemination of virus.)

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu denied there was any discrimination, saying: "The measures concerned are not targeted at Mexican citizens. This is purely a medical quarantine issue."

Americans, Canadians hit

Meanwhile, another diplomatic row could be brewing after Canada asked China to explain why a group of at least 20 Canadian students had been quarantined in the north-eastern town of Changchun.

Canada said none of the students had shown any flu symptoms. (But China need the quarantine by laboratory system in the specific teritory.)

The US embassy said on Tuesday that four American citizens had also been quarantined in China due to swine flu fears.(It's not exactly a fear but the previous experience with SARS push more pressure on China)

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China Swine Flu Response Criticized As "Unjustified"
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By : Antoaneta Bezlova
Post: 05/ 5/09 02:49 PM by The Huffinton Post

Source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/05/china-swine-flu-response_n_196909.html

BEIJING, May 5 (IPS) - Rebuked in the past for its sluggish response and attempts to cover up the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), China's measures to curb the spread of the swine flu virus are earning opposite marks of being extreme and "unjustified."

The country's health authorities have been accused of discriminating against Mexican nationals by singling them out for forced isolation amid fears that the world's most populous nation may be exposed to the spread of the flu. Beijing suspended flights with Mexico - the country hardest hit by the current outbreak of H1N1 flu - after health minister Chen Zhu warned the virus would very likely to enter mainland China.

Beijing has now shifted into a defensive mode, attempting to stem the diplomatic row caused by its decision to quarantine more than 70 Mexicans across the country, even though many of them were not at risk for the virus.

Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa has called China's actions "unjustified" and has warned Mexicans against travelling to China.

China denied the charge and called on Mexico to "address the issue in an objective and calm manner." "The measures are not targeted at Mexican citizens and are not discriminatory. This is purely a question of health inspection and quarantine," said foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.

Chinese health experts have also hit back reminding the international public that in 2003 during the outbreak of SARS - which originated in southern China - some parties demanded a ban on all Chinese flights and a full quarantine.

"We have the right to ask of other countries what was once demanded of us," Zeng Guang, chief scientist of China Disease Prevention and Control Centre told the Southern Weekend newspaper.

Zeng argued Mexico had a responsibility to the global community to curb the spread of the virus by quarantining all infected people and those who had been in touch with them even if they did not exhibit any symptoms. "Each country where the virus spreads should react in this way," he said.

A 25-year-old Mexican man who is now ill with human swine flu in Hong Kong travelled via Shanghai aboard on an AeroMexico flight from Mexico. Chinese health officials have been rounding up all passengers who travelled on that flight, but also all Mexican passport holders whether or not they had been in Mexico.

On the Internet, the public has rallied in support of the quarantine measures, according to media reports. A survey conducted by major Internet portal Sina.com showed that more than 92 percent of 4,263 online users thought the quarantine was a "necessary preventive method" and had nothing to do with discrimination, the China Daily reported.

After coming under criticism for trying to cover up the extent of its SARS epidemic and thus allowing it to spread around the world, China has been at pains to demonstrate new openness and preparedness to fight future outbreaks.

The 2003 SARS epidemic resulted in some 700 deaths worldwide, more than 300 of them inside China. Beijing was one of the hardest hit places, and the city was gripped by a sort of hysteria after its stunned residents realised the extent of the danger they had been living with while the cover up lasted.

The fresh strains of flu viruses that sweep the world every winter are frequently traced to China. Scientists suspect the strains develop easily in China because of its huge population where some communities live in close proximity to livestock. (And even harder to control if it has already spreaded)

The virus, which caused the 1918 influenza epidemic and killed millions of people is said to have originated in China. So also were the dangerous "Asian flu" outbreaks in 1957 and 1968.

But China begrudges its reputation as a breeding place for killer viruses. The government has battled accusations that the current flu originated in China, rejecting reports that dead pigs found in Fuqin in the eastern province of Fujian were the source of the outbreak in Mexico as "groundless." The Ministry of Agriculture said the pigs had died of swine dysentery and dropsy, which it said was common among young pigs.

Suggestions by the World Organisation for Animal Health that the new disease be labelled "North American influenza" in keeping with a long tradition of naming pandemics for the regions where they were first identified were met with obvious discomfort. Then commentators in the official press universally greeted the World Health Organisation's decision to refrain from using any geographical pointers and change the name of the current streak of virus from "swine flu" to the scientific H1N1.

"What is in a name?" asked an editorial in the Beijing Youth Daily. "Nothing less but a promise that all quarrels between countries are avoided and that they work together to fight the common threat," it said.(According to the differences life style in each country causes conflicts and misunderstanding, respect and follow the rules in which country you visit is a must for the best level of security.)

China was the first country to offer aid to flu-stricken Mexico, despatching 4 million dollars worth of medical supplies and offering 1 million dollars in cash. Photos of Mexican president Felipe Calderon receiving the Air China chartered flight with supplies in person last week featured prominently on the front pages of mainland newspapers.

Beijing announced that it had reached an agreement with Mexico to exchange chartered flights to repatriate nationals stranded by the flu outbreak to their respective countries.

With the diplomatic row seemingly resolved, the government is beginning to focus on winning the public relations battle at home. Despite assurances to the fact that pigs are not to be blamed for the epidemic, sales and consumption of pork in China - the world's largest breeder and consumer of live pigs have dropped dramatically.

Media reports have spoken of the "bursting of the pig bubble" while agricultural experts have expressed concern about the fortunes of thousands of pig farmers who have seen their income steeply reduced. A survey by the China Times newspaper in several provinces where pig-breeding is regarded as a pillar industry found that prices of pork have dropped by about a quarter this year.

Beijing worries that steep declines in pork prices could add to deflationary pressures and impede the country's economic recovery. Two years ago, China experienced the opposite: the spread of blue ear disease among live pigs reduced the country's reserves of pork, prices surged and led to a new round of food-driven inflation.
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Mexico faces criticism over swine flu response
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By NIKO PRICE, AP
Publication: The China Post

MEXICO CITY — Two weeks after the first known swine flu death, Mexico still hasn't given medicine to the families of the dead. It hasn't determined where the outbreak began or how it spread. And while the government urges anyone who feels sick to go to hospitals, feverish people complain ambulance workers are scared to pick them up.

A portrait is emerging of a slow and confused response by Mexico to the gathering swine flu epidemic. And that could mean the world is flying blind into a global health storm.

Despite an annual budget of more than $5 billion, Mexico's health secretary said Monday that his agency hasn't had the resources to visit the families of the dead. That means doctors haven't begun treatment for the population most exposed to swine flu, and most apt to spread it.

It also means medical sleuths don't know how the victims were infected — key to understanding how the epidemic began and how it can be contained.(The more concentration and swiftly response in an early priod is very important, but it's incredible that Maxico ignore that point.)

Foreign health officials were hesitant Monday to speak critically about Mexico's response, saying they want to wait until more details emerge before passing judgment. But already, Mexicans were questioning the government's image of a country that has the crisis under control.(How can the world population calm down if even the Maxican are so panic.)

"Nobody believes the government anymore," said Edgar Rocha, a 28-year-old office messenger. He said the lack of information is sowing distrust: "You haven't seen a single interview with the sick!"

The political consequences could be serious. China was heavily criticized during the outbreak of SARS for failing to release details about the disease, feeding rumors and fear. And Mexico's failed response to a catastrophic 1985 earthquake is largely credited with the demise of the party that had ruled the country since the 1920s.

"That is foremost in the minds of Mexican policymakers now," said George Grayson at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. "They're thinking, 'We don't want another '85.'"

Indeed, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova was defensive at a news conference Monday as he was peppered with questions about why Mexico took so long to identify the outbreak, attempt to contain its spread and provide information. (Probably answer in http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1894534,00.html with 'Maxico's mystery: why is Swine flu deadlier there?

"We never had this kind of epidemic in the world," he said. "This is the first time we have this kind of virus." (So that Mexico should be more careful with the regulation and concern more on the medical health process.)

It remained unclear where and how the epidemic began, how it has spread, who it has killed or how fast it is growing. And the government has yet to take some basic steps critical to containing any outbreak, such as quick treatment of people who had contact with the victims.

In the town of Xonacatlan, just west of Mexico City, Antonia Cortes Borbolla told The Associated Press that nobody has given her medicine in the week since her husband succumbed to raging fever and weakened lungs that a lab has confirmed as swine flu.

No health workers have inspected her home, asked how her husband might have contracted the illness or tested the neighbors' pigs, she said.

Cordova acknowledged that her case isn't unique.

"We haven't given medicine to all of them because we still don't have enough personnel," he said.

Cordova said he couldn't provide information on the victims for reasons of confidentiality, but promised to eventually release a statistical breakdown. He said he couldn't provide that data now "because it's being processed."

Asked whether he could at least say how many of the 20 confirmed victims were men and how many were women, he said: "I don't have that information."

The government has insisted it acted quickly and decisively when presented with the evidence of a new virus. (Actually, the fact speaks for themselves as to an increasing number of death and confiration from infected cases around the world)

But even as it did so, it acknowledged the outbreak began earlier than April 12, the date it had previously linked to the first case. Cordova confirmed Monday that a 4-year-old boy who was part of an outbreak in eastern Veracruz state that began in February had swine flu. He later recovered.

Residents of the town of Perote said at the time that they had a new, aggressive bug — even taking to the streets to demonstrate against the pig farm they blamed for their illness — but were told they were suffering from a typical flu. It was only after U.S. labs confirmed a swine flu outbreak that Mexican officials sent the boy's sample in for swine flu testing.

Mexico's Agriculture Department said Monday that inspectors found no sign of swine flu among pigs around the farm in Veracruz, and that no infected pigs have been found yet anywhere in Mexico.

Meanwhile, some people complained that health workers were turning them away, even as officials urged people to seek treatment quickly if they felt symptoms of flu coming on.

Elias Camacho, a 31-year-old truck driver with fever, cough and body aches, was ordered out of a government ambulance Sunday because paramedics complained he might be contagious, his father-in-law told the AP. When family members took him to a hospital in a taxi, Jorge Martinez Cruz said, a doctor told him he wasn't sick. (What health testing that mexico are using now?! If so, I could say there is a low quality of health in Mexico)

Camacho was finally admitted to the hospital — and placed in an area marked "restricted" — after a doctor at a private clinic notified state health authorities, Martinez said.

In Mexico City, Jose Isaac Cepeda said two hospitals refused to treat his fever, diarrhea and joint pains. The first turned him away because he wasn't registered in the public health system, he said.

The second, he said, didn't let him in "because they say they're too busy." (Too busy at that time is ten times more relaxed than dealing with more number of overreacted patients right now.

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For more update with WTO
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8032823.stm

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My Reaction
By: Mingkhwan Tantipark
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1. The quarantine keep China in secure from the Swine flu unlike the SARS, which lacked the prepararing strategy at that time. This can be proved by comparing a number of death in SARS and Swine flu.

3. The Mexico's delayed process and neglect of early swine flu alarm, is one of the important factors of global pandemic.

4. WTO urge all nations to be strong and ready for the unpredictable result in the upcoming winter which is contrast to the Mexico's more relaxed reaction right now.

5. There is no right or wrong for the any country's swine flu process because every country has to choose the most suitable way for themselves. The bottom line is the outcome not the mean, except it's too cruel, which is not true about china's reaction.

6. The previous experience with SARS warned China the develop a back-up plan.

7. In the Hotel, people were treated properly, with the temperature check in the morning and were served every meal, but the travellers just can't go out from the hotel to guarantee the non-spread virus.

8. A sale rate of pig is forecasted to rapidly decline due to the misunderstanding Swine flu trasmission, which is clearly explained by WTO that Swine flu can be transmitted from human to human.

9. People in Mexico are now relaxed of protecting themselves from Swine flu while WTO warned there is no quarantee as to the more spread of this virus.

10. Swine flu knowledge is required to prevent the over-panic crisis. (UK begins delivering swine flu leaflets: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8033048.stm)

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Conclusion

Lots of media around the world blame China's quarantine process toward the Swine flu last week with the accuse of the unjusticed and unfairly targeted passengers, while China see it as a purely medical issue.

China decided to track down everyone, most of them were Mexican, who was on the same flight with the found case of swine flu and isolated them in the hotel to declare the clean virus. The main reason of this plan is the China's experience of the inefficient SARS crisis back up plan and the quickly and widely dissemination of SARS around the world.

Although it seems to be a dictating process and go against the human right but it could serve the proficient safe in the long run due to the ability to control the dissemination of virus. Vaccine might work out but it might be too late if the virus kill people too quick. Also, it could be a good option for the upcoming winter crisis.

After coming under criticism for trying to cover up the extent of its SARS epidemic , China has been at pains to demonstrate new openness and preparedness to fight future outbreaks and the sloppy of Mexico's scheme. This time China grew up and did better than in the past, meanwhile people have to follow the rules as to maintaining the majority survive.

Swine flu: Is China right or wrong?

Swine flu