Let’s not sit back over flu threat

Much of the world’s fear of a flu crisis results from experience with the last pandemic that hit in 1918.

The disease started in mild form but returned six months later in a much more lethal form, killing between 50 and 100 million people in the 1918-1920 period. There was also another less deadly pandemic in 1957 and 1968.

Don’t know borders

Meanwhile, in the current flu crisis, Mexico has been at pains to tell of its innocence.

Says Mr Jorge Laguna Celis, Mexico’s deputy ambassador in Nairobi: “Mexico protested over the name of swine flu because we believe that in an inter-dependent world, challenges such as pandemics or desertification cannot be attributed to a single nation. Pandemics do not know borders.’’

He adds that there was no scientific basis that the H1N1 influenza virus originated in Mexico. “We know that it spread in Mexico. Scientists at WHO are still trying to find out the root cause of the virus.’’

He adds: “The government of Mexico acted swiftly and with transparency in the wake of this epidemic. We immediately alerted the United Nations. We disclosed all information regarding cases of patients with severe respiratory illnesses because during the first days of the crisis, not all Mexican medical facilities were equipped to identify the H1N1 virus.’’

Under WHO rules, all its 193 member states have a duty to equip national health facilities to detect any illness, set up controls at borders in case of an epidemic and inform the population on the safety measures to follow.

Mexico reported its first cases around April 26 and so far, there are close to 4,000 confirmed cases in the central American country.

Worldwide, the reaction was initially severe. Nations put up checkpoints at airports and in Egypt, 300,000 pigs were slaughtered allegedly to prevent a flu pandemic.

In Hong Kong, 300 guests and staff were detained at a hotel for a week after a Mexican traveller carrying the virus stayed in the hotel.

Mr Celis admits that in the first days of the crisis, not all Mexican medical facilities were equipped to identify the H1N1 virus.

In Africa, there is need for preparedness as the H1N1 virus marches on in much of the world.

Medical staff need to prepare laboratories, drug stockpiles, and vaccine-making capacity as Africa awaits its fate.

Northern Africa countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia which are closest to Europe need to step up their preparedness.