News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – As attention shifts to China and a novel H7N9 strain of avian flu, seasonal influenza in the United States continued to ebb, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Influenza activity remained elevated in Midwestern US states but elsewhere was at low levels, while some Northern Hemisphere countries reported moderate flu activity, according to the latest US and international reports.

The World Health Organization (WHO) listed a global total of 2,500 confirmed cases of swine influenza H1N1 in 25 countries today. That total included 1,204 cases in Mexico, 896 cases in the United States (yesterday's number), 214 in Canada, 88 in Spain, and 34 in the United Kingdom. The death toll remains at 44, including 42 in Mexico and 2 in the United States. [WHO update 22]

(CIDRAP News) – The tentative detection of the novel swine influenza H1N1 virus in an Alberta swine herd over the weekend shook Canada's pork industry and raised concern about the potential for new hybrid viruses to emerge.