China Quarantines Americans

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4 Americans Quarantined in China Over Swine Flu Fears
Four U.S. Citizens Have Been Quarantined in China Over Swine Flu Fears

By AMMU KANNAMPILLY and BETH LOYD
May 5, 2009

SHARE Four U.S. citizens are now or were quarantined on mainland China under stringent measures that China has put into place over fears that swine flu could spread quickly in the world's most populous country.

U.S. embassy spokesman, Susan Stevenson, told ABC News that of the four Americans, two were quarantined in Beijing and two in the southern Guangdong province.

Citing privacy issues, she declined to reveal the details of the specific cases, but said that the cases differ. "They could have been quarantined due to their proximity to someone who may have been sick or they could have displayed symptoms and placed in quarantine as a precaution," she told ABC News.

It appears two are currently under quarantine and two were in quarantine but were released.

It is unclear whether or not any of the Americans shared the Aeromexico flight with the Mexican man who was confirmed infected with swine flu in Hong Kong.

Stevenson said the United States government has not issued any statements of concern over China's treatment of the Americans.

Out of fear that swine flu could mirror or dwarf the 2003 SARS epidemic, the first confirmed case of swine flu in Asia sparked a flurry of activity in Hong Kong and on the mainland, as Hong Kong authorities imposed a week-long quarantine on more than 300 guests and staff at the hotel where the Mexican man stayed. Chinese health officials tracked down and quarantined 128 of the Mexican's fellow passengers.

The Mexican ambassador to China also accused China of rounding up another 70 Mexicans around the country only because they hold a Mexican passport. Mexico's President Felipe Calderon expressed dismay at the measures and officials chartered an Aeromexico flight that will take home any Mexican citizens that want to leave China. The plane is expected to make stops in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong before returning to Mexico city later today. China's Foreign Ministry denied it was discriminating against Mexicans, and in a goodwill gesture, sent Mexico the final batch in a $5 million humanitarian assistance package consisting of masks, gloves, disinfectants, infrared thermal scanners and other items.

Earlier today, a University of Montreal official said that a group of 25 Canadian students and a professor have been quarantined at a hotel in Changchun, China. The group apparently has been quarantined since the weekend, though none showed any symptoms. Canada has more than 100 confirmed cases of swine flu.

Early Days for the Virus: 1,448 Infected in 20 Countries
As of Monday evening, 802 cases were confirmed in Mexico, and at least 383 confirmed in 36 states in the U.S. Today, German health officials confirmed a new case of swine flu bringing the total of confirmed cases there to 9.

Globally, the virus has reached more than 1,448 people in 20 countries -- still in its early stages, according to the World Health Organization.

"We are by no means out of the woods," said Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mexican officials announced Monday they would allow most nonessential businesses to reopen Wednesday, after the government ordered them closed Friday after the deadly outbreak of the swine flu virus.

On Sunday, Mexico's health ministry said that the worst of the outbreak had passed, partially because of the shutdowns, and that the virus might turn out to be no worse than a typical seasonal flu outbreak.

"The virus has entered into a stabilization phase. The cases are starting to decrease," President Felipe Calderon said, predicting that Mexico would soon begin to get back on its feet.

WHO epidemic and pandemic diseases spokesman Gregory Hartl said Sunday that though the virus seemed to be slowing down, history must be considered when evaluating the virus' potential to come back.
"I also would like to remind people that in 1918, the Spanish flu showed a surge in the spring and then disappeared in the summer months only to return in the autumn of 1918 with a vengeance, and we know that killed eventually 40 to 50 million people," Hartl said. "So I think while tracing these kind of curves of activity -- increasing, decreasing activity -- we cannot lower our guard."

As for the CDC's analysis of the H1N1 virus, Besser said, "what we've found is that we're not seeing the factors that were associated with the 1918 pandemic, we're not seeing the factors that are, were associated with other H1N1 viruses, and that's encouraging."

CDC: More Swine Flu Cases Expected in the U.S.
But though officials are cautiously optimistic, whether the virus will reemerge when the typical flu season starts in the fall is still unclear.

"Every virus is new," Besser cautioned. "And what it will do is different. And so you're hitting a critical point: What will happen this spring and summer?"

He reiterated that the virus is spreading "quite easily," and that he expects to see reports of more confirmed cases in the U.S.

In New York City, St. Francis Preparatory School -- considered last week as the epicenter of the country's swine flu infections, reopened Monday for the first time since the virus was identified.

As students returned to the school, many packing bottles of hand sanitzers in their backpacks, medical experts concluded that the swine flu infection may not be any more dangerous than a normal outbreak of flu.

But the country's medical authorities aren't ready to ease restrictions, and more than 333,000 students were out of class Monday as schools across the country took no chances and shut down. Two more New York schools closed their doors Monday, including one in Syracuse and another on Long Island.

In addition, hospital emergency rooms continue to fill up with patients who have "swine flu jitters," hand sanitizers are disappearing from drug store shelves and airlines are taking unusual precautions. British Airways is handing out masks to Mexico-bound passengers. Lufthansa is putting a doctor on flights to Mexico. And Alaska Airways is eliminating pillows, hoping that will help halt the spread of germs.

The jitters persist despite efforts to tamp down fears about the potency of the H1N1 virus that has been dubbed swine flu.

And there is one worrisome pattern. While most flus strike the very young and the elderly, this virus has taken its toll on older children and younger adults. Of the 30 people hospitalized in the U.S. with swine flu, many fit this category. And nine of the 19 deaths in Mexico attributed to swine flu were people between the ages of 21 and 39. In the U.S., the virus claimed the life of a toddler in Texas last month.

The virus spread to Colombia in the first confirmed case in South America, a fact which has worried health officials since the flu season is about to begin in the continent. Experts are worried that typical winter flus could combine with swine flu there, creating a new strain that is more contagious or dangerous.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told reporters Monday that WHO would not move its alert level to Phase 6 - meaning a pandemic has officially begun - until "we see in another region outside North America, showing very clear evidence of community-level transmission."

The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story