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Tonight, there are no cases of confirmed swine flu in Belize, but vigilance is very high. Public hospitals and health centers are treating every person that shows up presenting flue symptoms as a possible case of swine flu. 7News has confirmed that three cases of flu are being watched closely, one in Belize City, one in San Pedro and 1 in Corozal, but at this time there is no clinical assessment of swine flu.

Still, the procedure is that samples must be collected from every person showing flu symptoms. Those symptoms are sent abroad for testing. And while Belize remains both vigilant and apprehensive, the United States has reported 64 laboratory confirmed cases, with no deaths while Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.
Laboratory confirmed cases have also been reported in Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Israel and Spain. None of those countries have reported deaths.

Yesterday we showed you the measures being taken against swine flu contamination at the Corozal Free Zone and the border. And while that is the first point of contact with Mexico, the first institutions to come in contact with possible infected persons are the medical professionals at Belize’s hospitals. Jacqueline Godwin visited the three major hospitals today and she found them preparing the best containment model for the worst case scenario.

Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
Health officials say it is no longer a question of whether the swine flu will affect Belize, the more appropriate question is when:

Dr. Peter Allen, CEO – Ministry of Health
“Absolutely Jackie and I think that is an important point because last night the World Health Organization lifted the alert level internationally to stage 4 which essentially means that the World Health Organization no longer believes that we can limit the geographic scope of this outbreak to simply Mexico and the United States. We know see there are reported cases as far away as the United Kingdom and Scotland and even Australia. So the World Health Organization now advises that countries focus shift not from stopping it from coming into the country but mitigating the effects. So essentially again, increased surveillance.”

Dr. Marcelo Coyi, Public Health Expert
“The purpose now is not containment we have it spreading to at least a dozen countries. So we are next to the epicentre of this possible epidemic, pandemic. Common sense will tell you that it will reach Belize. It may come later but it will be and so that is why I think we are going through the process of education of how to mitigate or to decrease the probability of you getting the influenza virus and that is what we are doing here. We can’t stop it but we can prevent that it doesn’t spread very easily. It will come to Belize, it is a matter of us now preparing that when it does come, it does not spread very easily.”

Today most health care facilities activated preventative measures to protect at-risk employees. Dr. Marcelo Coyi, who holds a Master’s in public health, is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Belize Medical Associates. Dr. Coyi says the heightened awareness also extends to their patients as a first step response because swine flu does carry symptoms resembling the common flu.

Dr. Marcelo Coyi,
“So what we are doing is one, we are asking patients when they enter, we take a history from them, that if they have any symptoms of influenza, we ask them to put on a mask so they don’t pass on their virus to other patients and we are also asking our staff on the frontline, for them to put on masks so they are not contaminated and get infected. I suspect the majority of cases we get here are the annual influenza that we are getting. And so a history is important to try to distinguish the two group of persons who have the same symptoms but different complications.”

Deborah Latchman, Nursing Mgr – Belize Healthcare Partners
“Telling our staff to wash hands and we have also sat with our doctors and they have decided that because we are forefront people on this front, that we should go and have the flu shot. So that is one of the things that we’re doing and educating our staff.”

But before you run out to get your flu shot be advised that the vaccination does not protect you from swine flu; it only offers immunization against the human influenza virus.

Nurse Sharema McKoy, Practical Nurse - Integral Healthcare
“The flu shot is effective for the regular flu virus, it is not a flu vaccine for the swine flu virus.”

Dr. Peter Allen,
“In fact the regular vaccines for human influenza are essentially ineffective so not effective against the swine flu virus. So as a preventive measure for the swine flu outbreak, the human vaccine is not effective and not recommended.”

Two days ago the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital activated its response plan for such an outbreak.

Dr. Francis Gary Longsworth, CEO – KHMH
“We did some dissemination of information to our staff generally yesterday. We have changed our triage or sorting procedures for patients coming into the Accident and Emergency which is the main entrance that we get for outpatients coming to the hospital and we have started using protective gear, simply masks for the moment, on our workers in that area. We have not seen any spike in cases of influenza like illness as yet but given the circumstances and given the fact that this outbreak has already crossed borders almost surrounding us, we suspect that pretty soon we will start seeing cases.”

However Longsworth explains that unless it is an emergency, you should not go to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, instead you should visit your nearest health care provider.

Dr. Francis Gary Longsworth,
“The hospital is not the first place that you should come to because mild illness does not require hospitalization and in fact the KHMH is a tertiary level institution that is meant to cater to severe illness. So we in fact might be able to redirect patients to the other facilities for mild illness because this may not be the appropriate place to look after them.”

The swine flu is unique because it is a combination of the avian influenza, the swine flu and the human flu viruses.

Dr. Peter Allen,
“But the H1N1 virus that’s circulating now is a brand new virus and especially because it is this unique mix of all the viruses which have mutated into this version means that there is no vaccine against it at the moment. The US, Mexico, Canada, the World Health Organization, and other groups are as we speak struggling to see if they can generate a vaccine for this particular virus but at the moment it simply does not exist. We have stepped up our surveillance significantly all around the country and especially at the border and for personal protection. So personal hygiene, hand washing, and social distancing we suggest.”

As health care workers use protective gear to protect themselves, the general public is urged to continue practising sound basic hygiene to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Jacqueline Godwin reporting for 7News.

Later on, we’ll have more on the swine flu outbreak as we’ll tell you how its affecting plans for the National Agricultural and Trade Show and we’ll tell you whether it’s safe to eat pork.