"Mexican flu" information.

[Cathay Seas information service]

Dear all,

You must know that there's an epidemic of Swine Flu going on, something we
call Mexican flu here.
Please find enclosed some recomendations for air travel, which apply also
to "closed environments" like hotels, offices or houses.

As of 28 April 2009, 07 countries have officially reported cases of swine
influenza A/H1N1 infection.
Real time news can be found here :
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html

INDEED, the mexican flu has been lethal ONLY in Mexico (26 cases and 7
deaths). The great question is : why ?
No death has been reported elsewhere in the world.
Ill patients have been / are being treated and are recovering without
problem in USA (64), Canada (6), New Zealand (3), the United Kingdom (2),
Israel (2) and Spain (2).
The ilness is spreading worldwide but it could be worse.
MEDIA NEWS ARE POINTLESSLY ALARMING.
The killing rate of Mexican flu is less than 8% (8 deaths for 100 ill
people), while it is 70% for the Avian flu.

The alert level of the World Health Organization (WHO) is 4 out of 7.
Next step is Pandemic, with possible air traffic restrictions and borders
closing and reduction of "public life".
See this link :
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html
If you intend to travel abroad, be aware that you may have difficulties to
go home if the alert level is raised again by WHO.

Oh, by the way, if you would ever need to protect yourself, use the FFP2
model. The "surgeon masks" you see on TV are poorly effective and they are
distributed to sick people to protect others, not the opposite.

Sincerely yours,
- Yannick.