Limitations for Canadians travelling to and from Mexico were lifted Monday as the swine flu appears to be “levelling off” in the country where it was first discovered earlier this spring.
Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada’s chief public health officer, told reporters in a conference call Monday afternoon that with the current knowledge of the swine flu, or H1N1 virus, it does not make sense to maintain a non-essential travel restriction to Mexico.
“The virus, as it spreads in Canada, the United States and internationally, is more along the lines of the severity we see with the seasonal flu,” Butler-Jones said. “In addition, the outbreak in Mexico seems to be levelling off, so as we get more understanding of this virus, it does not make sense to have a travel warning to a country where the virus is spreading similar to in Canada.
“We no longer feel it is necessary to say ‘wait until we know more,’ because initially the issue was that in Mexico, we were seeing an initial presentation of a very severe disease in a fair number of people,” Butler-Jones said, noting the end to restrictions was effective immediately.
“As we come to understand this virus better, and as we see the cases that have come back to Canada being a milder form, it does not make sense to have that travel warning in place. It did make sense at the time given what we didn’t know, but given what we know now, it’s time to regularize things.”
Butler-Jones said strict surveillance of the disease will continue.
He said people should remain diligent in protecting themselves, especially if they are more vulnerable to illness.
“Travelling into any country where influenza is spreading is something for people to be conscious of,” Butler-Jones said. “For people with underlying chronic disease or other conditions that put them at greater risk of severity of illness if (they get the flu), that’s something they should still be conscious of in terms of travel during influenza season, or when influenza is spreading anyway.”
In the conference call — which also included Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who is in Geneva for a meeting of the world’s health officials — Butler-Jones said previous pandemics have slowed down as weather changes in the summer months, and said it appears this case is no different, but he would not rule out another spike in infection rates. An increase of cases is also possible in the Southern Hemisphere, he said.
“This is a new virus and we don’t really know how it will (react), but if it’s like other influenza viruses, it will slow down,” he said.
There are currently 520 confirmed cases of swine flu in Canada, according to individual reports from the provinces and territories.
Updated figures are expected Wednesday.
Globally, the World Health Organization reports more than 8,800 confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, resulting in 74 deaths.
The United States, with more than 4,700 cases, represents the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by Mexico, which has more than 3,100 cases and represents the majority of the fatal cases, with 68.
In Japan, it appears infection rates are on the rise. Of the 125 cases confirmed by WHO, 118 of those infections were confirmed since Sunday.
http://www.theprovince.com/Health/Ca...757/story.html 
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