After four new deaths from swine flu (H1N1), authorities in Mexico's Chihuahua state along the U.S. border announced preventive health measures Sunday to staunch a return of an H1N1 epidemic.
Javier Gonzalez, Chihuahua's deputy secretary of education, culture and sport said, “School checks will be implemented following a renewed outbreak of H1N1 human influenza, as a means of protecting all students from possible infection.” He explained that when authorities discovered a fresh outbreak of the virus, and state health officials quickly launched a vaccination campaign and outreach programs to inform the population about prevention measures.
Mexico was last gripped with swine flu in April 2009 that went on to kill some 18,500 people since emerging that spring, according to the World Health Organization.
An H1N1 outbreak has also been detected in Venezuela, where health authorities last week said 179 people had recently contracted the virus, and three people with H1N1 have died this year. Health Minister Eugenia Sader says health authorities are also testing more than 200 other patients to see if they have A H1N1 swine flu. The number of reported cases has grown since officials announced last week that 12 people had the virus and that they believed one person had died of swine flu. Sader said last Thursday that all of those now being treated have “light cases” and that none of them are in intensive care units. Venezuelan officials in 2009 attributed dozens of deaths to swine flu.
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