Mexico is undergoing a health crisis. The schools and museums are closed; soccer games are being played in empty stadiums; Health workers are ordering sickly passengers off subways and buses; bars and nightclubs are filling up as usual but some teenagers were dancing with surgical masks on.
Across this overcrowded capital of 20 million people, Mexicans are reacting with fatalism, confusion, anger and mounting fear. Mexico City may be ground zero for a global epidemic of a new kind of flu — a strange mix of human, pig and bird viruses that has epidemiologists deeply concerned.
Mexico's Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said tests show 20 people in Mexico have died of the new swine flu strain and that 48 other deaths were probably due to the same strain. The caseload of those sickened has grown to 1,004 nationwide. The same virus also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California but though there have been no deaths north of the border.
Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic virus that mixes genetic material from humans and animals. This outbreak is particularly worrisome because deaths have happened in at least four different regions of Mexico, and because the victims have not been vulnerable infants and elderly.
The 1918-19 flu pandemic killed at least 40 million people worldwide. It also first struck healthy young adults.
Authorities in the capital responded Friday with a sweeping shutdown of public places and events, urging people to stay home if they feel sick and to avoid shaking hands or kissing people on the cheeks.
Mexicans quickly got the message made sure their family members did, too. Cristina Ceron, a 55-year-old waitress, called her daughter and said, "Please keep your mouth covered. And don't you eat street food."
The government discovered the virus late Thursday and international laboratories are assisting Mexican authorities. Government officials said for days that its growing flu caseload was nothing unusual, so the sudden turnaround, along with a flurry of warnings from disease experts, left many angry and confused.
Pizzeria owner David Vasquez said, "Why did it break out, where did it break out? What's the magnitude of the problem?" Health officials told residents stay home Friday night.
The virus outbreak hit Mexico's beloved national pastime, soccer. Two sold-out soccer matches Sunday between the Pumas vs. Chivas and America vs. Tecos will be played in empty stadiums to prevent the spread of the disease.
Health workers also staffed the international airport and bus and subway stations, handing out masks and trying to stop anyone who appeared sick. Many commuters wore masks but masks are scarce. A nearby pharmacy put up signs saying, "We don't have masks" after selling out all 150 in stock.
Scientists have worried that a new killer flu could evolve when different viruses infect a pig, a person or a bird and then mingle their genetic material. The resulting hybrid could spread quickly because people would have no natural defenses against it.
The WHO was convening a panel this weekend to consider whether to raise the pandemic alert level or issue travel advisories. The CDC and Canadian health officials were studying samples sent from Mexico, and some governments around Latin America said they would monitor passengers arriving on flights from Mexico.
But it may be too late to contain the outbreak, given how widespread the known cases are. If the confirmed deaths are the first signs of a pandemic, then cases are probably incubating around the world by now, said Dr. Michael Osterholm, a pandemic flu expert at the University of Minnesota.
No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is not known how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer. A "seed stock" genetically matched to the new swine flu virus has been created by the CDC. If the government decides vaccine production is necessary, manufacturers would need that stock to get started. Actually producing the vaccines could take months.
The CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested. Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective. Mexico has enough Tamiflu to treat 1 million people hence only one in 20 people in greater Mexico City would get Tamiflu. Tamiflu will be strictly controlled and handed out only by doctors.
This swine flu and regular flu can have similar symptoms. People get a fever, cough and get a sore throat. Some U.S. victims experienced vomiting and diarrhea.
At Mexico's National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses, Adrian Anda waited to hear whether his 15-year-old daughter had the frightening new disease. She had been suffering a cough and fever for a week.
In Mexico City's Zona Rosa neighborhood, teenagers with spiky hair and tight jeans laughed at the danger. "People are giving too much importance to something that isn't that big of a deal," said Oscar Zarate, 19, shouting over the loud music and the jostling crowd outside a packed nightclub.
The book of Psalms tells us to take comfort in the Lord.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]
2 I will say [b] of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." Psalm 91:1-16
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 91:1 Hebrew Shaddai
b. Psalm 91:2 Or He says
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