By Mark Stevenson
and Andrew O. Selsky
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — Mexico readied a "temporarily closed" sign — taking the drastic step of ordering a suspension of nonessential federal government and private business activity as it tried to squelch a swine flu epidemic. The World Health Organization ratcheted up an alert and warned that "all of humanity" is threatened.
The dire warning showed that world health officials are very worried about the potential for massive numbers of deaths worldwide from the mutated virus, even though the epidemic so far has claimed only a confirmed eight lives in Mexico and one in the United States. Roughly 170 deaths are suspected of having been caused by the virus in Mexico.
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Switzerland today became the latest country to report a swine flu infection — a 19-year-old student.
The Phase 5 alert, indicating a pandemic could be imminent as the virus spread further in Europe, prompted Mexico to announce the partial May 1-5 shutdown, Mexican Health Secretary Jose Cordova said late Wednesday.
The virus, a mix of pig, bird and human genes to which people have limited natural immunity, has also spread to Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria.
"It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in Geneva. "We do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them."
School in Mexico has already been canceled until May 6. During the shutdown, essential services like transport, supermarkets, trash collection and hospitals will remain open.
The outbreak appeared to already be stabilizing in Mexico, the epicenter. Confirmed swine flu cases doubled Wednesday to 99, but new deaths seemed to be leveling off after an aggressive public health campaign was launched when the epidemic was declared April 23. Although 17 new suspected deaths were reported, only one additional confirmed death was announced Wednesday night, for a total of eight countrywide. The virus is believed to have sickened as many as 2,955 people across the country,
The WHO said the global threat is nevertheless serious enough to ramp up efforts to produce a vaccine against the virus. It declared a Phase 5 outbreak — the second-highest on its threat scale — for the first time ever.
Swine flu has symptoms nearly identical to regular flu — fever, cough and sore throat — and spreads like regular flu.
