He added: "He has flu-like symptoms and is responding well to treatment. The patient was admitted directly to a side room and the hospital is scrupulously following infection control procedures to ensure there is no risk to any other individual in the hospital."The man was taken from flight BA242 which landed at 2pm today, a BA spokesman said. Experts said it was a form of swine influenza which has never been seen before.
A further 900 other people are thought to have been infected and eight other suspected cases in southern areas of the United States are also being examined.
Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said the North American outbreak of a never-before-seen virus was 'very serious'.
‘The situation is evolving quickly. A new disease is by definition poorly understood', she said. ‘In the assessment of WHO, this is a serious situation which must be watched very closely. This is an animal strain of the H1N1 virus and it has pandemic potential because it is infecting people. However, we cannot say, on the basis of currently available laboratory, epidemiological and clinical evidence, whether or not it will indeed cause a pandemic,' she added.
Previously, human cases of swine flu have been rare and are usually restricted to people who have had direct contact with animals infected by the respiratory condition. It is spread when bacteria from the virus becomes airborne and can be picked up from surfaces.
The infection is not spread by eating contaminated pork and the UK does not import pig products from Mexico.
The source of the outbreak is not yet known but Mexican authorities said 20 of the 68 deaths under examination had now been confirmed as being from the new strain. Most of those who have died are aged between 25 and 45. And it has also been confirmed that some of the 68 had been victims of a unique version of the disease – a combination of bird, pig and human viruses.
A strain which combines all three viruses is more dangerous to human beings because the body has no natural immunity to it. It also means it can be passed from person to person.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises travellers to immediately contact a doctor if they develop flu-like symptoms. Antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu – developed partly to combat avian bird flu – and Relenza would both be effective against the illness. The UK, Mexico and the United States already have large stocks of Tamiflu. (MJ – How convenient. Create a never before seen virus with drugs to combat it … then create panic by releasing the virus.)
A spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency said: ‘No cases of swine flu have been identified in the UK or anywhere in Europe.’
A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said there had been no recorded human cases of swine flu in Britain for more than ten years.
Prof Hugh Pennington, a microbiology expert at the University of Aberdeen, said: ‘There is no absolute evidence swine flu can spread from human to human.’ (Daily Mail)