Copyright ©2010. The Associated Press. Copyright ©2010. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Swine virus is world’s premier flu, agency says
By The Associated Press
|
Published: November 6, 2009
Associated Press
Leave a comment
LONDON — The World Health Organization’s flu chief said the swine flu virus has now become the predominant flu strain worldwide.
Multimedia
Related content
NewsOK Related Articles
-
Three more Oklahomans die from swine flu
11/06/2009 Three more Oklahomans have died of swine flu, state health officials said. The death of a Muskogee County boy, a Cleveland County woman and an Oklahoma...
-
Oklahoma clinic schedule
11/06/2009 Statewide vaccine ‘blitz’ A statewide "vaccination blitz” is Saturday as Oklahoma’s county health departments work to vaccinate...
In some countries, swine flu accounts for up to 70 percent of the flu viruses being sampled, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s top flu official.
While most people recover from the illness without needing medical treatment, officials are also continuing to see severe cases in people younger than 65 — people who are not usually at risk during regular flu seasons.
Fukuda said the swine flu virus appeared to be fairly stable, and that samples from around the world remained very similar to when the virus was first identified in April.
Regarding the recent surge of cases in Ukraine — which has reported more than 250,000 cases and 70 deaths of people with flu-like illness in recent weeks — Fukuda said the virus appeared no different there than anywhere else.
He said the agency was monitoring the impact of the virus on particularly susceptible populations.
Fukuda said WHO had observed Australian aboriginals were disproportionately hit by swine flu, but could not say whether they were more genetically vulnerable to the virus.
News Photo Galleriesview all
Prev
If you prefer your thoughts to appear in The Oklahoman, we encourage you to submit a letter to the editor.
Would you like to leave a comment?
Log in or sign up (it's free).