Swine flu update
As of Friday, May 8, The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta are reporting 1,639 cases of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) found in 42 states and Washington, D.C. There have also been two deaths, both in Texas. The total number of U.S. confirmed cases has nearly doubled from the 896 cases reported on Thursday.
Canada also reported its first death from the influenza virus.
Meanwhile, the outbreak in Mexico is turning out to be much less severe than originally thought, at least in the number of actual confirmed cases. Out of a total 908 suspected cases that were tested, only 397 people turned out to have the virus. Of that number, 16 people have died. As of Friday, Mexican officials had announced about 2,500 suspected cases of swine flu. Given the ratio of actual to suspected cases that has been realized so far, the real number of swine flu cases in Mexico might conceivably be fewer than 1,000.
The other good news is that the influenza virus appears to be spreading much less rapidly outside North America than originally anticipated.
The Canadian death occurred in Alberta, the same place where a herd of pigs was reported infected with the virus after exposure to a worker returning from a vacation in Mexico. That makes Canada the third country after Mexico and the United States to report a death from the virus, which so far has sickened more than 3,000 people in 26 countries.
The breakdown of confirmed H1N1 cases by state, as announced by the CDC on Friday, stands as follows:
Alabama — 4 cases
Arizona — 131 cases
California — 107 cases
Colorado — 25 cases
Connecticut — 4 cases
Delaware — 39 cases
Florida — 6 cases
Georgia — 3 cases
Hawaii — 5 cases
Idaho — 1 case
Illinois — 392 cases
Indiana — 29 cases
Iowa — 5 cases
Kansas — 12 cases
Kentucky — 3 cases
Louisiana — 7 cases
Maine — 4 cases
Maryland — 4 cases
Massachusetts — 83 cases
Michigan — 49 cases
Minnesota — 1 case
Missouri — 9 cases
Nebraska — 4 cases
Nevada — 8 cases
New Hampshire — 3 cases
New Jersey — 7 cases
New Mexico — 8 cases
New York — 174 cases
North Carolina — 7 cases
Ohio — 6 cases
Oklahoma — 4 cases
Oregon — 15 cases
Pennsylvania — 2 cases
Rhode Island — 7 cases
South Carolina — 29 cases
South Dakota — 1 case
Tennessee — 36 cases
Texas — 93 cases and 2 deaths
Utah — 24 cases
Virginia — 14 cases
Washington — 33 cases
Washington, D.C.– 1 case
Wisconsin — 240 cases.
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