New flu kills U.S. man, spreads to Australia, Japan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-11 13:38

Quarantine officers prepare to inspect passengers on a flight from the U.S. at Narita international airport in Narita May 9, 2009.[Agencies]

WASHINGTON– A Washington state man with H1N1 influenza died last week, health officials said, the third U.S. sufferer to die as the new flu strain confirmed in more than 2,200 Americans appeared in Japan and Australia.

Health officials have warned that the true number of cases may be underestimated. Although most cases appear to be mild, the new swine flu strain has killed just as seasonal flu does.

Another 48 people have died in Mexico and one each in Canada and Costa Rica.

Washington state officials said on Saturday a man in his 30s with underlying heart conditions died last week, state governor Chris Gregoire describing his death as "a sobering reminder that influenza is serious."

The virus has moved into the southern hemisphere, where influenza season is just beginning, and could mix with circulating seasonal flu viruses or the H5N1 avian influenza virus to create new strains, health officials said.

"One of the big challenges with influenza viruses is the way that they change, the way they combine and their prevalence in a number of species," Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a news briefing on Saturday.

"This is why it is so important for countries to have a strong capacity to deal with influenza and also why it is very important to understand what happens at the interface between people and animals."

Before the Washington man's death was announced, the CDC reported 2,254 confirmed U.S. cases of the virus with 104 people in hospital, up from 1,639 cases previously.

"Today there are almost 3,000 probable and confirmed cases here in the United States," Schuchat said. "The good news is we are not seeing a rise above the epidemic threshold."

Japan reported four cases, and globally officials reported more than 4,200 people in 30 countries had been ill. Australia reported its first case, a woman who been traveling in the United States but officials said she had made full recovery.

Previous 1 2 3 Next Page