[新聞] 世界衛生組織專家：已難控制疫情
標題: 'Too late' to contain swine flu
新聞來源: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8021827.stm
BBC News 08:43 GMT, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 09:43 UK
中文翻譯摘要：
世衛組織官員Keiji Fukuda表示，世衛組織對此次流感警戒層級提升到第四級，
代表此病毒已有能力人傳人，並可能造成區域大流行。他表示由於病毒傳播迅速，
要完全控制疫情擴散已幾乎不可能，各國政府重心應放在減輕疫情影響。
墨西哥已累積有152例疑似因H1N1型流感而死亡的病例，也是全世界目前唯一確認
有因流感死亡者。其他各國確認感染病例，美國已增至50例、加拿大6例、西班牙
1例、英國2例，其他如以色列、巴西、瓜地馬拉、秘魯、澳洲、紐西蘭及南韓亦
傳出疑似病例。參見以下地圖整理：
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8021827.stm#map
The swine flu virus first detected in Mexico can no longer be contained
and countries should focus on mitigating its effects, a top UN official
said.
World Health Organization deputy chief Keiji Fukuda was speaking as the
WHO raised its alert level to four, or two steps short of a full pandemic.
UN food inspectors are going to Mexico to examine reports that industrial
pig farms were the source of the outbreak.
The number of probable deaths from the virus there has risen to 152.
The US, Canada, Spain and Britain have confirmed cases of the virus,
but not deaths have been reported outside Mexico.
'Not inevitable'
Alert level four means the virus is showing a sustained ability to pass
from human to human and is able to cause community-level outbreaks.
Mr. Fukuda said this was a "significant step towards pandemic influenza"
but a pandemic should not be considered inevitable.
Experts did not recommend closing borders or restricting travel, he stressed.
"With the virus being widespread... closing borders or restricting travel
really has very little effects in stopping the movement of this virus,"
he said.
The first batches of a swine flu vaccine could be ready in four to six
months' time but it will take several more months to produce large
quantities of it, Mr Fukuda said.
Health experts say the virus comes from the same strain that causes
seasonal outbreaks in humans but also contains genetic material from
versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation is sending a team to investigate
allegations that industrial pig farms in Mexico were the source of the
outbreak.
Its chief veterinary officer, Joseph Domenech, told the BBC that rumours
that people had been falling ill last month near some intensive pig farms
meant the FAO had to act.
'Decline in cases'
Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the suspected death toll
from swine flu had risen to 152. Of that number, 20 have been confirmed
as swine flu deaths.
He said that all of those who had died were aged between 20 and 50.
Infections among young healthy adults were a characteristic of past
pandemics.
He said the first suspected case of swine flu had occurred in the southern
state of Oaxaca but stressed that nobody knew "the point of origin or
dissemination" of the virus.
Nearly 2,000 people had been hospitalised since the first case of swine
flu was reported on 13 April, he added, but half had now been allowed home.
Mr Cordova noted that the number of new cases reported by Mexico's largest
government hospitals had declined during the past three days: from 141
on Saturday to 119 on Sunday and 110 on Monday.
Schools nationwide are to remain closed until 6 May as the country grapples
with the outbreak.
In almost all swine flu cases outside Mexico, people have been only mildly
ill and have made a full recovery.
Travel advice
In the US, a further 20 cases of swine flu were confirmed in New York.
Cases have also been reported in Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California,
bringing the total across the country to 50.
Dr Richard Besser, acting director of the US Centers of Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), warned that a new US travel advisory was being
prepared suggesting non-essential travel to Mexico should be avoided.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU Health Commissioner
Androulla Vassiliou have separately urged caution for those considering
travelling to Mexico.
In Canada, six cases have been recorded at opposite ends of the country,
in British Columbia and in Nova Scotia.
Swine flu officially arrived in Europe on Monday, when tests confirmed
that a young man in Spain and two people in Scotland - all of whom had
recently returned from Mexico - had the virus. They were said to be
recovering well.
Tests are also being carried out on individuals or groups in New Zealand,
Australia, Brazil, Israel and South Korea who fell ill following travel
to Mexico.
A number of countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe have begun
screening airport passengers for symptoms, while Germany's biggest tour
operator has suspended trips to Mexico.
Taiwan has announced it will quarantine any visitors showing symptoms of
swine flu.
Several countries have banned imports of raw pork and pork products from
Mexico and parts of the US, although experts say there is no evidence to
link exposure to pork with infection.
Shares in airlines have fallen sharply on fears about the economic impact
of the outbreak.
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