Swine Flu Kills One NRI in Ahmedabad, 15 in Pune, total 23 

New Delhi, August 14, 2009
Surinder Mehta/ Gary Singh, LA

• NRI Pravin Patel, died in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Aug 9. He had viral pneumonia and his haemoglobin count was low.
• The World Health Organization was monitoring the spread of the virus and said 22 countries have officially reported 1,516 cases. The United States confirmed 403 cases in 38 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, with another 700 "probable" cases. Canada reported 165 cases.
• Obama said the federal government is ``prepared to do whatever is necessary to control the impact of this virus.'' He noted his request for $1.5 billion in emergency funding to ensure adequate supplies of vaccines.
• Britain is trying to cope with more than 100,000 new cases of the H1N1 swine flu virus each week. More than four dozen people have died and hundreds are hospitalized. The country's chief medical officer expects the flu to get worse in the autumn, when Britain has its annual flu season.

Watch the Southern Hemisphere, where winter and the flu season are just beginning.

To prevent the spread of illness, the HPA advised people to cover their nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, to throw away dirty tissues promptly and carefully, and to wash hands and surfaces which are regularly touched.

Flu claims first victim in B'lore, PM says govt doing its best

New Delhi, August 14, 2009.
india.gov.in

A 26-year-old teacher became the first swine flu fatality in Bangalore while an infant and two women died in worst-hit Pune on Thursday, taking the nationwide death toll to 21 even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said panic should not created and the government is doing its best.

The rise in flu cases in the country was discussed threadbare at the meeting of the Union Cabinet in Delhi, during which Dr Singh asked Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to work towards restoring confidence of the people and ensuring that panic is not created.

Sources said Azad made a presentation on the flu situation before the Cabinet following which the issue was discussed in great detail.

Expressing concern over the swine flu situation, Dr Singh is understood to have said that this was a major problem before the country and the Government sector is doing its best.

Azad told reporters after the meeting that "the central and the state governments are taking all possible measures. For the past one week, we have been reserving places in government and some private hospitals. We are also looking for some private laboratories since they are now needed."

The Bangalore teacher, identified as Roopa, who worked in a private school, had tested positive for the virus and was also undergoing treatment at St. Philomena hospital for respiratory disorders, health authorities said. She died on Wednesday.

An 11-month-old boy Rutwik Kamle, a 37-year-old woman Archana Kolhe and 75-year-old Bharti Goyal died in Pune, where the toll mounted to 13. ....(AKS-13/08)

Schools, Colleges, Cinema Halls shut in Mumbai

With the infection spreading fast, the Maharashtra government ordered closure of schools and colleges in Mumbai for a week and theatres and multiplexes for three days.

The decision was taken as part of precautionary measures to check the infection, a senior state government official said.

To keep the H1N1 virus at bay, follow the simple precautions and take care of the common symptoms associated with the Flu (BJ-13/08)

http://india.gov.in/outerwin.php?id=http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Homepage+-+Top+Story/SQSQ.htm

Swine Flu may Kill 100 Million People?

The Mexico City Swine Flu is a highly dangerous challenge for humanity in that it is a re-combined virus made up of many strains that affects multiple species including pigs, birds and humans. But the chances of European, Asian bird and swine flu combining are, well, like 1/10 Th of 1 percent chance in nature. If it spreads around the world you will see hundreds of millions of people get infected," the WHO's Dr. Keiji Fukuda told a news briefing.

The virus is 10% to 15% deadly and that healthy adults are the most likely to die from it,

"Swine flu, dubbed Spanish flu, killed 50 million people worldwide in 1918."

U.S. and Canadian pig and pork exports have been hit by bans from Russia to Ecuador that rattled the $26 billion-a-year global pork industry, in which Mexico, the United States and Canada are among top exporters.