Mexico In Economic Shutdown; Flu Pandemic Imminent

Mexico's president urged people to stay home for a five-day partial shutdown of the economy and swine flu fears spread after health officials declared the world on the brink of a pandemic.

Leaders on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border urged citizens to take precautions while new cases of the H1N1 swine flu virus were reported in the United States, Latin America and in Europe.

AP People wearing surgical masks to prevent swine flu

"There is no safer place than your own home to avoid being infected with the flu virus," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in his first televised address since the start of an outbreak which has killed up to 176 people in Mexico and is now spreading around the world.

Global markets appeared to be taking the flu news in their stride, and Wall Street opened stronger on hopes that the U.S. recession is easing. But in Mexico—the worst hit country—officials were taking no chances.

Calderon told government offices and private businesses not crucial to the economy to stop work beginning on Friday to avoid further spreading a virus that appears to be striking young, old, rich and poor without discrimination.

In the United States, where officials have reported 109 confirmed swine flu infections and one death, a Mexican toddler visiting Texas, officials urged prudence but said drastic measures such as closing the Mexico border were impractical.

"Which borders do we close, do we close the Canadian border too? Do we close flights coming from countries in Europe where it's been identified now? We're told that is not an efficacious use of our effort. We should be focusing on mitigation," Vice President Joe Biden said in a television interview, echoing comments on Wednesday by President Barack Obama.

Biden was later prompted to retract comments in which he said he would tell his family to stay out of airplanes and subways to avoid the flu.

Minnesota and Nebraska reported their first confirmed cases, pushing the total number of U.S. states affected to 12.

Worldwide, 12 countries have reported cases of the H1N1 strain, with the Netherlands the latest to join the list. It said a three year-old who had recently returned from Mexico had contracted the virus.

Switzerland also confirmed its first case on Thursday in a man returning from Mexico. Peru reported what appeared to be the first case in Latin America outside Mexico, also in someone who had been to the country.

Texas officials have the first swine flu death outside Mexico, a 22-month-old visiting Mexican boy. Almost all those infected outside Mexico have had mild symptoms, and only a handful of people have been admitted to hospital.

Preparation Intensifies

Around the world flu preparations were expected to intensify after the World Health Organization raised its alert level to phase 5, the last step before a pandemic.

The WHO recommended all countries track any suspect cases and ensure medical workers dealing with them wear protective masks and gloves. But it stopped short of recommending travel restrictions, border closures or any limitation on the movement of people, goods or services.

Mexico's peso currency weakened sharply after the government called for chunks of the economy to close. The peso fell 1.6 percent to under 13.83 per dollar.

In Mexico City, a metropolis of 20 million, all schools, restaurants, nightclubs and public events have been shut down to try to stop the disease from spreading, bringing normal life to a virtual standstill.

Several countries have banned pork imports, though the World Health Organisation says swine flu is not spread by eating pork. Egypt started confiscating and slaughtering pig herds despite criticism from the United Nations.

"There is no reason to do that. It's not a swine influenza, it's a human influenza," said Joseph Domenech, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation's chief veterinary officer. The FAO is lobbying for a name change for the virus.

Experts Says Virus Relatively Weak

Masato Tashiro, head of the influenza virus research center at Japan's National Institute of Infectious Disease and a member of the WHO emergency committee, told Japan's Nikkei newspaper it appeared the H1N1 strain was far less dangerous than avian flu.

"I am very worried that we will use up the stockpile of anti-flu medicine and be unarmed before we need to fight against the avian influenza. The greatest threat to mankind remains the H5N1 avian influenza."

WHO Director General Margaret Chan has urged companies who make the drugs to ramp up production. Two antiviral drugs—Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline and Tamiflu, made by Roche and Gilead Sciences —have been shown to work against the H1N1 strain.

Guan Yi, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, said the swine flu virus could mix with avian flu, or H5N1, to become a very powerful and transmissible virus. "Then we will be in trouble, it will be a tragedy."

Mexico's central bank warned the outbreak could deepen the nation's recession, hurting an economy that has already shrunk by as much as 8 percent from the previous year in the first quarter.

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The United States, Canada and many other countries have advised against non-essential travel to Mexico. Many tourists were hurrying to leave, crowding airports.

European Union health ministers were due on Thursday to discuss coordinating possible restrictions on travel to and from Mexico, and Southeast Asian health ministers will hold emergency talks to coordinate their fight against swine flu next week.

Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.