New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly deployed on Thursday 40 marked and unmarked Nissan Altima hybrid patrol cars. The cars are part of the mayor's plan to slash city emissions by 30% by 2017.
As of Thursday April 30 the new influenza will be referred to as A/H1N1 said the World Health Organization in a brief announcement. The statement follows on World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) clarification of facts from the animal health perspective, particularly in relation to international trade of pigs and of products of pig origin.
The OIE (Epizooties International Organization) strongly counsels against the culling of pigs in the current situation with A/H1N1 influenza that started in North America, reports the organization from Paris.
Egypt has begun a mass slaughter of thousands of pigs in an effort to prevent swine flu spreading. The cull was going ahead despite there being no cases of swine flu in Egypt. However, neighbouring Israel has two confirmed cases in humans.
Peruvian Health Minister Oscar Ugarte Wednesday confirmed that an Argentine woman was the first case of swine flu in Peru. This makes the first case reported and confirmed in South America.
Brazilian president Lula da Silva called on Wednesday for “caution” when dealing with the swine flu information and “let us not play terrorism” with the disease. He underlined that Brazil “was prepared” to face such a challenge.
As of April 29, 91 people in the United States had confirmed cases, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The first US death occurred on April 27, when a two-year-old child succumbed to swine flu after travelling from Mexico to Houston for treatment.
At least three cruise lines have suspended stops as of this week at Mexican ports because of concerns over the country's swine-flu outbreak. The cancellation of ship visits followed a recommendation issued this week by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control that advised US citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico.
United States health officials said Wednesday that a vaccine against the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu, could be ready for human use by early September. The announcement was made at a joint press conference held by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Food and Drug Administration.
Mexico has long been considered the laboratory of globalization. Now a potentially deadly virus has germinated in that laboratory, finding ideal conditions to move quickly along a path toward global pandemic.