As the number of documented cases of the swine flu continues to grow, many are concerned about coming in contact with the virus in their everyday lives.
"Germs are definitely always on my mind," says a Mission Valley mom.
There are dozens of things we each touch everyday that are suddenly suspect for harboring the virus.
According to the Center for Disease Control, the virus can live for two hours or longer on surfaces like ATM's and shopping carts.
"The bottom line is handwashing," says Emmanuel Rudatsikira of SDSU's Global Emergency Preparedness Program.
When you wash your hands it should be for 15 to 20 seconds using soap and warm water.
"When I get in my car, I use my hand sanitizer to get clean," says one mom.
Wipes are effective and so are hand sanitizers if alcohol is the active ingredient.
The problem right now is that many stores are completely sold out of the sanitizers.
Rudatsikira says being armed with information is the best defense against the flu.
"Worry adds to the confusion of things so we shouldn't worry. We shouldn't panic. We should be prepared," he advises.
Panic in Tijuana
The swine flu epidemic is raising concerns for our neighbors in Tijuana.
A National Olympiad hosting 13,000 athletes and a Men's Under-17 Soccer Tournament have been canceled.
Swine flu panic is visible in Tijuana. Children are locked out of elementary schools.
A note left in front of one the schools states that classes are out till May 6th. It's the government mandate for all schools.
University student Maria Lopez told San Diego 6 News, "I feel very afraid. I am scared right now. I don't want to get sick."
Lopez just learned about her school's shutdown. She said, "It's good because they don't have, like, the cure. It is safe."
More than 150 people have died in Mexico due to a flu related sickness. That's why on the streets of Tijuana masks are seen everywhere. Young and old have them on.
Mexican customs inspectors take no chances either.
Sergio Sandoval a Tijuana resident was asked if he's noticed a panic. He said, "Yeah, yeah."
Sandoval says life has definitely changed here. He explains, "The custom is shaking hands and giving a kiss on the cheek. I am not going to do that anymore."
The U.S. And European Union have asked people not to travel to Mexico.
We found Anna Mryc from Poland in Tijuana.
"We are a little afraid of traveling here, but we decided to go," Mryc told us.
All can only hope life returns to normal soon.
 | Mexico Swine Flu Outbreak 4/27/09 The swine flu outbreak has altered life for our neighbors across the border in Tijuana. People now fear going out in public. |
Public Health Emergency
WASHINGTON — The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the U.S. has risen to 48.
The government says most of the cases are mild. There have been no fatalities.
The outbreak, which apparently started in Mexico, has claimed at least 149 lives there.
The American reaction to swine flu has been limited to steps that hospitals, schools and mask-wearing individuals took on their own. Airports and border agents have been waving people through with little or no additional screening.
The government said it's shipping millions of doses of flu-fighting medicine from a federal stockpile to states along the Mexican border or where the virus has been detected.
The confirmed U.S. cases include 28 at a private high school in New York City, 11 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio. New Jersey is reporting five probable cases. Only one American case has led to a hospitalization.
The U.S. declared a public health emergency Sunday to deal with the emerging new swine flu, much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes.
The federal plan calls for several steps, including moving a flu drug stockpile to areas where it can be used quickly if needed.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napilotano says roughly 12 million doses of the drug Tamiflu are being released from a federal stockpile so that states can get it if needed.
Travelers entering the U.S. from areas with confirmed swine flu cases will be asked about any illness they may have.
Passengers won't be barred from getting into the United States. But they could be referred for further testing.
Napolitano characterized the step as more "passive surveillance," saying airline workers certainly could tell people they shouldn't fly if ill.
Napilotano said at a White House news conference Sunday that the emergency declaration is standard operating procedure, one was recently declare for the inauguration and for flooding.
Unlike in Mexico, cases in the United State have been mild — and U.S. health authorities can't yet explain why.
Canada became the third country to confirm human cases of swine flu Sunday as global health officials considered whether to raise the global pandemic alert level.
Nations from New Zealand to France also reported suspected cases and some warned citizens against travel to North America while others planned quarantines, tightened rules on pork imports and tested airline passengers for fevers.
Nova Scotia's chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang, said the east coast Canadian province had confirmed four "very mild" cases of swine flu in students ranging in age from 12 to 17 or 18. All are recovering, he said.
"It was acquired in Mexico, brought home and spread," Strang said.
The news follows the World Health Organization's decision Saturday to declare the outbreak first detected in Mexico and the United States a "public health emergency of international concern."
A senior World Health Organization official said the agency's emergency committee will meet for a second time Tuesday to examine the extent to which the virus has spread before deciding whether to increase the pandemic alert beyond phase 3.
The same strain of the A/H1N1 swine flu virus has been detected in several locations in Mexico and the United States, and it appears to be spreading directly from human to human, said Keiji Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general in charge of health security.
Mexico's health minister says the disease has killed up to 86 people and likely sickened up to 1,400 since April 13. U.S. officials say the virus has been found in New York, California, Texas, Kansas and Ohio, but so far no fatalities have been reported.
Governments including China, Russia and Taiwan began planning to put anyone with symptoms of the deadly virus under quarantine
Others were increasing their screening of pigs and pork imports from the Americas or banning them outright despite health officials' reassurances that it was safe to eat thoroughly cooked pork.
Some nations issued travel warnings for Mexico and the United States.
WHO's emergency committee is still trying to determine exactly how the virus has spread, Fukuda said
"Right now we have cases occurring in a couple of different countries and in multiple locations," he said. "But we also know that in the modern world that cases can simply move around from single locations and not really become established."
Raising the pandemic alert phase could entail issuing specific recommendations to countries on how to halt the disease. So far, WHO has only urged governments to step up their surveillance of suspicious outbreaks.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called the outbreak a public health emergency of "pandemic potential" because the virus can pass from human to human.
Her agency was considering whether to issue nonbinding recommendations on travel and trade restrictions, and even border closures. It is up to governments to decide whether to follow the advice.
"Countries are encouraged to do anything that they feel would be a precautionary measure," WHO spokeswoman Aphaluck Bhatiasevi said. "All countries need to enhance their monitoring."
New Zealand said that 10 students who took a school trip to Mexico "likely" had swine flu. Israel said a man who had recently visited Mexico had been hospitalized while authorities try to determine whether he had the disease. French Health Ministry officials said four possible cases of swine flu in two regions are currently under investigation. All recently returned from Mexico.
Spain's Health Ministry said three people who just returned from Mexico were under observation in hospitals in the northern Basque region, in southeastern Albacete and the Mediterranean port city of Valencia.
Hong Kong and Taiwan said visitors who came back from flu-affected areas with fevers would be quarantined. China said anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arrival from an affected area had to report to authorities. A Russian health agency said any passenger from North America running a fever would be quarantined until the cause of the fever is determined.
Tokyo's Narita airport installed a device to test the temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico.
Indonesia increased surveillance at all entry points for travelers with flu-like symptoms — using devices at airports that were put in place years ago to monitor for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and bird flu. It said it was ready to quarantine suspected victims if necessary.
Hong Kong and South Korea warned against travel to the Mexican capital and three affected provinces. Italy, Poland and Venezuela also advised their citizens to postpone travel to affected areas of Mexico and the United States.
Symptoms of the flu-like illness include a fever of more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius), body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.
The virus is usually contracted through direct contact with pigs, but Joseph Domenech, chief of animal health service at U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency in Rome, said all indications were that the virus is being spread through human-to-human transmission.
No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.
Russia banned the import of meat products from Mexico, California, Texas and Kansas. South Korea said it would increase the number of its influenza virus checks on pork products from Mexico and the U.S.
Earlier Report
SAN DIEGO - State School Superintendent Jack O'Connell will be in San Diego's Linda Vista neighborhood Sunday to alert school officials about preventing the spread of swine flu, which has health officials concerned about an influenza pandemic.
O'Connell will stress the importance of downloading a free "Keep Our Schools Healthy'' tool kit in multiple languages to help prevent the spread of germs and viruses, including those involved in the recent outbreaks of swine flu.
Four people in San Diego County have been infected with the disease, but unlike in Mexico, where scores of people have died of the new flu strain, none of the local cases have been fatal, said Jose Alvarez of the county Health and Human Services Agency.
No new swine flu cases were reported as of Sunday in San Diego County, according to HHSA.
A total of eight people have contracted the sickness in the U.S.
Doctors on both sides on the border are not sure how this bizarre flu is spreading.
On the streets in Tijuana, you could see some people wearing masks and others covering their faces. The scene in Mexico City was the same, as people lined up at hospitals.
It's not exactly known how this type of flu is being spread, but it's believed to be passing from human to human, which is why the Mexican government has asked their citizens to stop shaking hands and giving customary kisses in greeting.
Amparo Corona lives in Tijuana and says, “Everyone needs to take care of themselves, because it seems like it is a serious sickness.”
On this side of the border, San Diego doctors are trying to contain this rare strain of flu. Four cases have been diagnosed here.
"More than likely we will have additional cases of the swine influenza virus in our county," said Dr. Wilma Wooten with the San Diego Public Health Department.
She advised people to follow the usual guidelines during flu season. “If you are sick, do not go to work, school or travel. Cover your mouth when coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose, and wash your hands frequently,” Wooten said.
Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, said they are working with the World Health Organization to respond "as rapidly as possible to this threat."
"We do not know whether this swine flu virus or some other influenza virus will lead to the next pandemic," he said. "However, scientists around the world continue to monitor the virus and take its threat seriously."
"This is something we are worried about and we are treating seriously," Besser said.
The initial steps toward the development of a vaccine have already begun, he said.
One of the San Diego residents infected with swine flu had traveled to Mexico, but it was unclear if that is where the person became infected, Besser said.
The CDC has issued an outbreak notice for Mexico, but has not called for any domestic or international travel restrictions.
Besser said the CDC has sent teams to California and Texas to help local health officials identify people who are potentially infected with swine flu. A team will also be sent to Mexico.
Dr. Wooten said that while the outbreak of swine flue is a "concern," it is "not a pandemic situation."
"There is always a possibility that any new virus could lead to a pandemic, but at this time the World Health Organization has not determined that we have a pandemic," she said.
Wooten said that health officials expect to identify more cases of swine flu locally due to stepped-up surveillance.
"It is anticipated that we will see additional cases of human infection with swine influenza because we have heightened our surveillance and put area health care providers on alert," Wooten said.
"We continue to work closely with the CDC, the California Department of Public Health and the Imperial County Public Health Department to investigate the source of these cases," she said.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease found in pigs that sometimes infects humans, according to the HHSA. Human cases of swine flu usually occur in people who have been in close proximity to infected pigs, but that did not appear to be the case in the latest infections, health officials said.
Symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, coughing and a lack of appetite, according to the HHSA.
Besser said people can avoid spreading the disease by covering coughs and sneezes and washing hands frequently.
Residents should see their doctor if they have fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches chills and fatigue, he said.
