U.S. swine flu death confirmed

OTTAWA – American officials confirmed Wednesday the first swine flu death in the U.S., as Canada stepped up its screening measures at airports to check passengers returning from Mexico for symptoms of the virus has now infected 13 Canadians in four different provinces.

A 23-month-old child in Texas has died from the new H1N1 swine flu, becoming the first death from swine flu reported outside Mexico, the country hardest hit by the influenza outbreak. A health official said the baby was Mexican and was in the United States for medical treatment.

Richard Besser, acting head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said he expected more bad news even though most of the 65 U.S. cases of swine flu were mild.

"We’re going to find more cases. We’re going to find more severe cases and I expect that we’ll continue to see additional deaths," he said.

President Barack Obama said the death showed it was time to take "utmost precautions" against the possible spread of the virus.

Germany reported its first three infections and Austria one, taking to nine the number of countries known to be affected.

"We have about 100 cases outside Mexico, and now you have one death. That is very significant," said Lo Wing Lok, an infectious disease expert in Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization called an emergency meeting for later Wednesday.

In Canada, seven new cases were confirmed Tuesday – two in Alberta, four in Ontario and one in British Columbia – adding to six announced Sunday. All have links with travel to Mexico, where the illness is suspected of killing more than 150 people and of sickening more than 1,600.

Canadians who choose to maintain their travel plans to Mexico, despite a travel warning issued Monday by the Public Health Agency of Canada to delay trips if possible, will face questions about their health from customs officers upon their return. Border agents at airports have been directed to ask passengers if they have any of the swine flu symptoms – fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, coughing, sore throat, vomiting and diarrhea – or if they have been in contact with anyone who has symptoms.

If anyone answers "yes" they will be assessed further and possibly referred to a quarantine officer who may then advise travellers to go home and self-isolate or to go to a hospital.

"These measures will help to prevent further spread and protect the health of Canadians and we thank you for your patience and co-operation with this process," Dr. David Butler-Jones, chief public health officer, said here Tuesday at a news conference.

Airline passengers will also receive handouts with information about swine flu and will hear public service announcements on the plane.

But Canadians who were planning on travelling to Mexico soon are out of luck if they were booked on an Air Transat flight. The airline announced Tuesday that all flights to Mexico with Air Transat and its partner tour companies – Transat Holidays and Nolitours – have been cancelled until June 1. Customers will receive a credit for travel anywhere the airline flies that must be used before the end of October.

WestJet and WestJet Vacations announced Tuesday evening it will stop flying and vacation planning for Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, effective May 4, 2009.

Air Canada announced Tuesday evening that it will maintain its scheduled flights into Mexico City. But the airline also said customers with flights booked to Cancun, Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta between now and June 1 can rebook their holiday with no change fees.

Swine flu has now spread far beyond Mexico however, with cases now confirmed in the United States, Canada, Spain, Scotland, Israel and New Zealand, Germany and Austria. There are also suspected cases in many more countries but laboratory tests have not yet confirmed whether they are cases of swine flu.

The new Canadian cases reported Tuesday came as no surprise to health officials.

"Today’s new cases were anticipated by the government and by public health officials and they do not change our course of action," Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said at a news conference.

The first cases for Ontario include one man and three women in their 20s who live in the Toronto area. The Alberta cases involve men from Calgary and the northern part of the province, while the newest British Columbia case involves Victoria resident Michelle Bossi, 30.

Bossi, who got sick while in Mexico, wore a mask on her trip back to Victoria. But she’s concerned she may have infected others after being told by health professionals in Victoria late Saturday she was not contagious.

"I’m annoyed I could have affected other people," said Bossi, who’s recovering at home.

British Columbia now has a total of three swine flu cases and Nova Scotia has four. The cases in Canada are all considered mild.

The health minister said the federal government is following a six-point plan to deal with the swine flu outbreak, and is "on top of what is happening."

World health authorities are warning the swine flu outbreak could develop into a pandemic. Its spread around the globe and its person-to-person transmission prompted the WHO on Monday afternoon to heighten its global pandemic alert system from level three to four.

WHO said the change is a signal that the world is a step closer to a pandemic but that one is not inevitable.

Researchers are struggling to understand why the virus, which has a genetic makeup that has never been seen before, has been deadly only in Mexico and why it seems to severely affect relatively young and healthy people.

WHO said even if countries are successful in mitigating the spread of the virus and its incidence goes down, it likely will be months before the outbreak can be declared over.

The flu affects millions of Canadians each year, resulting in 20,000 admissions to hospital, on average, and 4,000 deaths. Normally, fewer than 0.1 per cent of people with influenza die, if they have no underlying medical conditions.