Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSU to watch for swine flu symptoms
By Julia Terruso
Posted: 4/28/09, 2:45 AM EST Section: News
Despite China and Russia banning imports on pork, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said pork consumption has no link to the virus.
Out of the 42 confirmed cases in the United States, 28 are from the same high school -St. Francis Preparatory high school in Queens, N.Y. St. Francis is the largest Catholic school in the nation, with 2,700 students.
Kristyn Lao, a public relations and psychology senior at SU, graduated from St. Francis in 2005. The school closed Monday and Tuesday in response to the outbreak.
"It's kind of a shock and it hits so close to home because it was my high school," Lao said. "You don't know how far the flu epidemic is going to carry, and it just seems so all of the sudden."
In addition to the 20 confirmed swine flu cases reported in Mexico and the 149 deaths, Mexican officials said there are at least 1,600 additional suspected infections. Most swine flu viruses occur in people with direct pig contact, but the virus has mutated and is now transferable between humans, the New York Times reported.
A quick response to the flu from the Mexican government, the U.S. government and SU could be due to excessive planning that went on for the avian flu, a more lethal but less transferable virus.
"A tremendous amount of effort at both corporate local and national levels has gone into planning for pandemic bird flu," Jacobs said. "Responses to the current relatively mild swine flu are giving all of these organizations, including our own, the opportunity to exercise those plans. In a way, it's giving us some practice for more serious problems."
jmterrus@syr.edu
Out of the 42 confirmed cases in the United States, 28 are from the same high school -St. Francis Preparatory high school in Queens, N.Y. St. Francis is the largest Catholic school in the nation, with 2,700 students.
Kristyn Lao, a public relations and psychology senior at SU, graduated from St. Francis in 2005. The school closed Monday and Tuesday in response to the outbreak.
"It's kind of a shock and it hits so close to home because it was my high school," Lao said. "You don't know how far the flu epidemic is going to carry, and it just seems so all of the sudden."
In addition to the 20 confirmed swine flu cases reported in Mexico and the 149 deaths, Mexican officials said there are at least 1,600 additional suspected infections. Most swine flu viruses occur in people with direct pig contact, but the virus has mutated and is now transferable between humans, the New York Times reported.
A quick response to the flu from the Mexican government, the U.S. government and SU could be due to excessive planning that went on for the avian flu, a more lethal but less transferable virus.
"A tremendous amount of effort at both corporate local and national levels has gone into planning for pandemic bird flu," Jacobs said. "Responses to the current relatively mild swine flu are giving all of these organizations, including our own, the opportunity to exercise those plans. In a way, it's giving us some practice for more serious problems."
jmterrus@syr.edu
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