More than 100 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Israel since the first outbreak of the pandemic in late April, including 23 people who were diagnosed on Sunday.
The most recent cases brought the total number of people in Israel infected with the H1N1 virus to 117. Seventeen cases were diagnosed Friday, up from 77 this past Thursday. All have been hospitalized and are in good condition, and no one has died from the disease.
The Health Ministry requests that any passengers who were on El Al Flight #002 from New York to Israel on Friday afternoon report to a doctor if they feel even slightly ill.
Israel has been well prepared for the pandemic, with government officials having made contingency plans early on.
At the first senior-level meeting on the issue, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered the Health Ministry to stock up on regular flu vaccines to inoculate up to 25 percent of Israel's 7.2 million citizens. He also ordered the ministry to purchase enough anti-viral medication to treat up to 30 percent of the country's residents, without regard to cost.
A special clinic was immediately established at Ben Gurion International Airport, where incoming travelers who exhibited symptoms or complained of feeling ill continue to be screened. Those with fever are sent to hospitals for a mandatory further examination. Those who have no fever, but feel ill, are asked to confine themselves to their homes for at least seven days, until they feel better – or worse, in which case they are urged to seek further medical care.
Around the world, the statistics have continued to rise as well, with approximately 30,000 people in 74 countries infected. At least 145 victims have lost their lives to the virus, according to the World Health Organization, which last week formally declared the outbreak a Phase Six global pandemic.
Officials on Sunday reported the first death from swine flu outside the Americas; the European Centers for Disease Control in Stockholm said a person died of the H1N1 virus at a hospital in Scotland. It was also the first swine flu-related death reported in the United Kingdom.
The latest WHO statistics show that Mexico, the epicenter of the pandemic, has been the hardest hit, with 109 deaths reported and 6,294 people infected with the virus.
Next on the list is its northern neighbor, the United States, where 27 people have died of the illness and 13,217 others have contracted it. One of the worst hit states in the country is New York, also the largest Jewish population center in the U.S. and a major source of tourism to Israel.
The country's northern neighbor, Canada, reported Sunday there have been more than 3,500 laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus, which has claimed five lives there. Canada is another strong source of tourism and immigration to the Jewish State.
New Vaccine Ready for Testing
But relief may soon be on the say: the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis has announced that it has completed production of its first batch of influenza A/H1N1 vaccine, "weeks ahead of expectations."
Clinical trials are expected to begin in July, with the firm hoping to apply for a license to market the vaccine soon after, with the intent of having the vaccine in production by September or October.
Research to develop the vaccine was supported in part by a $289 million grant from the United States, according to the AFP news agency.
The French Sanofi-Pasteur pharmaceutical firm is also in the process of producing a new swine flu vaccine, which it said would be ready for clinical trials sometime this summer.
The British GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical giant told AFP on Friday that it is willing to convert 50 million doses of its H5N1 bird flu vaccine that have been allocated for WHO use to swine flu vaccine. The company added that it could also produce a new swine flu vaccine within four to six months, which might just make it in time for the flu season in the northern hemisphere, which strikes in the autumn and winter months.
Countries in the southern hemisphere, such as Australia, New Zealand and Chile, are already having to contend with the pandemic as the flu season moves into full swing, with the winter months just beginning.
The WHO has said it will ask pharmaceutical firms to expedite production of swine flu vaccine as soon as they have completed their regular production run of seasonal flu vaccines.
