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Commentary
Chihuahua
Mexico Declares Epidemic Alert On H1N1 Clusters
Recombinomics
Commentary 05:55
March 25, 2011
Duarte said that one of the patients likely originates in the U.S. El Paso (Texas), who is suspected to have been the one who brought the virus to neighboring Ciudad Juárez.
According to information from the Department of Health of El Paso in 2010 were confirmed eight cases of influenza A, while in the first two months of this year were already 29 confirmed cases.
The above translation indicates the recent H1N1 outbreak has raised concerns leading to the declaration of an“epidemic alert” for the entire state of Chihuahua reflecting the spread of cases from Juarez to the capital, Chihuahua.
The above comments suggest the H1N1 originated in El Paso, which led to the rapid spread and death. Although 250 traffic police have been vaccinated, the utility of the vaccine for H1N1 currently in circulation remains questionable. Most recent sequences in the United States, from isolates collected in late 2010, had S188T, which was linked to vaccine failures reported in the UK.
Although the CDC has recently released 2011 H3N2 and influenza B sequences, public sequences for H1N1 have not been updated since early February.
Release of more current H1N1 sequences from the US, as well as sequences from the severe cases in Chihuahua, would be useful.
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