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Mexican Swine Flu Outbreak Kills 60

WHO officials link 'novel' strain to 7 non-lethal cases in US

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 24, 2009 1:10 PM CDT

(Newser) – An outbreak of swine flu in Mexico has left 60 people dead and hundreds of others infected, the BBC reports. The World Health Organization says the strain that killed at least 12 of the victims has the same genetic structure of the flu that sickened seven people in Texas and California, reports NBC News. All seven people have recovered. The strain is a new one, and its source remains unclear.

“It is a virus that mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans,” said a Mexican health official. Schools have been closed in Mexico City, and officials are launching a vaccination campaign. "We are very, very concerned," said a WHO spokesman. "We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

A commercial market hog stands in a pen in a hog lot near Panora, Iowa. (AP Photo)

A pig crossing sign is shown at the Animal Place pet sanctuary in Vacaville, Calif. (AP Photo)

A pair of pigs sniffs the air from their pen in Cabot, Vt. (AP Photo)

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This is the first time that we've seen an avian strain, two swine strains and a human strain. - Dave Daigle, spokesman for the CDC,
on the American outbreak

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Mexican Swine Flu Outbreak Kills 60