Please watch your kissing also lol !
As a precaution to an outbreak of swine flu in
Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Health has issued an alert but assured
Nigerians that measures had been put in place to tackle the epidemic.
The alert issued by the Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, came on a day the worldwide death toll rose to 149.
Osotimehin
said that surveillance had been strengthened at all ports of entry into
the country – airports, seaports and all land borders.
“We have
our surveillance officers present and fully ready in all local
government areas, states and at the Federal level,” the minister said,
adding that so far, no suspected case of the flu had been reported in
Nigeria.
The minister also said the Federal Government was fully
prepared to contain any outbreak of the flu in the country with
adequate stockpile of Tamiflu, the drug of choice for treatment.
“We
wish to by this inform all clinicians and health workers to report any
suspected case of Swine flu to the Epidemiology Division, Department of
Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health,” Osotimehin stated.
The
ministry gave the phone details of contact persons, in the event of any
concern, as Dr. J.Y. Jiya (08034030212) , Dr. A. Nasidi (08037006349) ,
Dr. Henry Akpan (08037626718) and Mr. John Kehinde (08023210923) .
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has described it as a "public health emergency of international concern".
According to current projections, a pandemic today could result in up to 7.4 million deaths worldwide, the WHO says.
CNN reported yesterday that Mexico's government is ordering closure schools nationwide as the suspected death toll rose.
Health
Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said only 20 of the deaths had been
confirmed to be from swine flu and the government was awaiting test
results on the rest.
He said 1,995 people had been hospitalised with
serious cases of pneumonia since the first case of swine flu was
reported on April 13. The government does not yet know how many were
swine flu.Of those hospitalized, 1,070 have been released.
He
said schools at all levels nationwide are suspended until May 6.
Schools had already been suspended in Mexico City and five of Mexico's
32 states.
The United States and the European Union (EU) have urged
travellers to Mexico to exercise caution, amid concerns over the spread
of the flu virus.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US - which has 40 confirmed cases - was taking the issue "very seriously".
Earlier,
the WHO said there were 40 laboratory-confirme d cases of swine flu in
the US, 26 in Mexico, six in Canada and one in Spain.
Tests are
also being carried out on individuals or groups in New Zealand,
Australia, Brazil, Britain and Israel who fell ill following travel to
Mexico.
In most cases outside Mexico, people have been mildly ill and have made full recovery.
Concerns
arose over the health of US President Barack Obama weekend as one of
the people he shook hands with on his recent trip to Mexico reportedly
died suddenly of a lethal pork flu pandemic that has claimed 149 lives
worldwide.
Obama had shaken hands with an archaeologist, Felipe Solis, who died of the disease soon after the encounter.
The
White House, however, said Obama’s health had not been endangered by
his trip to Mexico City last week, in spite of reports in the Mexican
press that an archaeologist who met the US leader, died soon after from
“flu-like symptoms”.
All the pork eaters be careful of the swine you chop !
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