It’s the top story in almost every major news source in the world: the outbreak of the swine flu! The death toll linked to the new strain of influenza in Mexico continued to rise yesterday with leaders of the world calling on everyone to remain calm. The new swine flu cases popping up not just in Mexico, but in the United States, has already had an impact on the world economy, specifically oil and food exports. Up to press time the World Health Organization based in Geneva had confirmed 73 cases of the swine flu—40 in the United States, 26 in Mexico, six in Canada and one in Spain. In Mexico, officials Monday said the infection is suspected of causing as many as 149 deaths from nearly 2,000 cases, The Washington Post said.

US president Barack Obama speaking at the National Academy of Sciences on Monday said: “We are closely monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu in the United States,” Mr Obama said. “This is obviously the cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert, but it’s not a cause for alarm.”

Experts say the swine flu that originated in Mexico is a genetic mixture of viruses that have been seen in pigs, birds and people. It’s being called a swine flu because the overall structure of the virus is of the type that affects pigs, said Keiji Fukuda, a WHO official.

In St Lucia the news about the Swine Flu began to circulate on Saturday.
A statement was released by the National Emergency Management Organization announcing that the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) had called on Caribbean countries to begin immediate mobilization of key personnel to ensure that the region is ready to deal with possible cases of the flu.

Director General of the WHO, Margaret Chan had warned of an animal strain of the H1N1 virus with pandemic potential. “However, we cannot say on the basis of currently available laboratory, epidemiological, and clinical evidence whether or not it will indeed cause a pandemic.”

After receiving the warning NEMO said the local Ministry of Health called together a high level gathering of personnel at NEMO’s headquarters in Bisee on Saturday “to assess the situation and prepare a plan to deal with any possible identification of someone affected with swine flu.”

The NEMO communication also featured a statement from St Lucia’s Chief Veterinarian in the Ministry of Agriculture Dr George Joseph who said that “pork is safe to eat once properly cooked.”

Senior Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr Merleen Frederick, said that there were no known cases in St Lucia but the concern of the ministry “is that the virus can be spread from human to human and as a result, we must be extremely vigilant from now on.”

Represented at Saturday’s meeting was NEMO, the Government Information Service, the Saint Lucia Air and Seaports Authority and the Ministry of Agriculture. Public advisories are expected to be issued and St Lucia will be focusing on protecting against infection through its ports of entry.
Speaking with the STAR yesterday Minister for Health Keith Mondesir said: “This is a flu that we have to be very worried about. We are so close to the shores where it comes from and we have so many visitors from the continent of both north, central and south America. We are now on high alert here. We are instructing people about precautionary measures and educating them about the severity of it. We are in touch with embassies here. We are on high surveillance in terms of our ports of entry. We have to let people know this is serious.”

Meanwhile the news for the travel industry is about to get worse. The world economic crisis had already hit tourism-centered economies hard. Forbes is reporting that the shares of travel companies have already dropped. A spokeswoman for Orbitz Worldwide Inc said the online travel agency is temporarily dropping fees to change or cancel reservations for trips to Mexico. Expedia Inc said it is also offering to waive change and cancellation fees for hotel and air reservations to Mexico.

Wachovia Capital Markets analyst Tim Conder estimated that roughly a quarter or all cruise itineraries have at least one port of call in Mexico. In a statement, Carnival Corp said the company has not received any reports of swine flu symptoms from guests on its cruise ships and has no plans to adjust its itineraries.

Forbes reported that on Sunday, Royal Caribbean spokesman Michael Sheehan said the company is “closely monitoring the situation,” but had not changed any of its cruise itineraries.

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. dropped $2.42, or 16.7 percent, to $12.06 in afternoon trading. Carnival Corp’s stock lost $3.76, or 13.2 percent, to $24.70.