Possible Swine Flu Case in Philippines

Today at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu, Philippines, three persons were currently quarantined for possible infection of swine flu or influenza A(H1N1) virus.

A Cebuano couple and a British woman were under observations. The couple who traveled from Ireland to Hong Kong arrived at the Mactan Cebu International Airport on Cathay Pacific flight CX921 and was intercepted at noon yesterday after thermal scanning at the airport showed the man running a fever. The husband is 32 while the wife is 30 years old.They were seated together on the plane so the wife was also quarantined as a precautionary measure though she did not show any symptoms.

The British woman, on the other hand, admitted visiting Mexico and Hong Kong where cases of swine flu have been reported. She had been in Cebu for a week before she voluntarily showed up at the VSMMC hospital last Monday because she suspected she had the virus. The British woman,who is a 25 years or older, has reportedly developed a cough and cold but has no sign of fever.

WHO raises global swine flu tally

The World Health Organization on Tuesday raised its global tally of confirmed cases of the H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, to 1,490, and said that people who are infected with the virus continue to be relatively young.

The organization said there have been 30 confirmed deaths, all but one of them in Mexico. A toddler from Mexico died in the United States.

How Swine Flu spreads

Swine flu viruses typically cause illness in pigs, not humans. Most cases occur when people come into contact with infected pigs or contaminated objects moving between people and pigs.

Pigs can catch human and avian or bird flu. When flu viruses from different species infect pigs, they can mix inside the pig and new, mixed viruses can emerge.

Pigs can pass mutated viruses back to humans, and these can be passed from human to human. Transmission among humans is thought to occur in the same way as with seasonal flu -- by touching something contaminated with flu viruses and then touching one's mouth or nose, and through coughing or sneezing. One of the most effective prevention measures is regular hand washing.

Philippine is negative on Swine Flu

The Department of Health on Monday allayed fears of the possible spread of the deadly swine flu virus in the Philippines, saying that there are no reported cases of swine flu among humans in the country.

"There is no report of swine flu among humans in Philippines...Following the World Health Organization alert among member states, the DOH has stepped up surveillance measures to prevent the entry of the virus that has killed 81 people in Mexico," Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a press conference in Manila.

Duque said the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has not reported any recent case of swine flu among hogs in Pangasinan, contrary to some newspaper reports. He also said that the swine flu virus in pigs is different from the "entirely novel [virus] strain" that has affected humans in Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

The strain of Ebola Reston virus in hogs detected in several Philippine farms last year is also different from the H1N1 virus strain in Mexico.

Duque said the government has enough stockpile of the Tamiflu (oseltamivir), the anti-viral drug used to treat various types of flu. The government had increased its supplies of Tamiflu for its avian flu virus readiness plan.