Israeli health officials are monitoring an outbreak of swine flu that has swept across Mexico, killing at least 68 people and sickening more than 1,000 others.
However, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it does not expect the new strain of influenza will make its way to Israel.
The swine flu (H1N1) is a mix of human, pig and bird strains whose initial symptoms are fever and respiratory problems, which are also sometimes the result of other conditions, making the initial diagnosis sometimes problematic.
No cases of swine flu have been recorded in the Jewish State, according to the ministry, which said it is “closely following the developments and recommendations of international bodies.”
The disease, which has already crossed the Mexican-U.S. border into Texas and California, may not be possible to contain, World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan warned on Saturday. At least eight confirmed cases have already been reported in the United States, she said, although there were no deaths. A related report of more than 100 students who came down with mild flu-like symptoms at a preparatory high school in Queens, New York has not yet been confirmed by health authorities as being the same strain of influenza as that which struck Mexico.
The WHO declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern,” and said it had “pandemic potential.” Countries around the world are being asked to step up reporting and surveillance of the disease. The decision might also lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures, depending on how fast the disease travels and how widespread it becomes.
Standard protocols for dealing with the flu were reissued by the Health Ministry to Health Maintenance Organization clinics (kupot holim) and hospitals over the weekend “just in case.”
In addition, the ministry recommended that all Israeli travelers see their doctor if they develop flu-like symptoms within seven days of returning from Mexico.
Dr. Yuval Rabinovich, a lecturer on History of Medicine at Ben Gurion University of the Negev’s Medical School in Be’er Sheva, dismissed the threat as faint at best. “The chances are really slim that it would reach here,” he told Israel National News on Sunday. “Only if someone travels from Mexico to Israel is it possible for this to affect us at this point.”
Rabinovich, who also serves as medical director of the Leumit health maintenance clinic in Arad, does not minimize the general threat of influenza, however. He is one of the leading proponents of the flu vaccine in the northern Negev community and vigorously works to persuade his patients at risk to accept the flu vaccine each year. “The flu can indeed kill,” he said.
Ordinary cases of the flu are still being reported in Israel, at least one of which led to a hospitalization over the weekend.