Lancashire prepares in case swine flu virus spreads

NHS East Lancashire will lead the county's emergency planning and responses if the virus outbreak reaches Lancashire, and director of public health Ellis Friedman said the primary care trust was ready to deal with the threat.

The World Health Organisation has raised the alert level to five, indicating human-to-human transmission in at least two countries and an “imminent” pandemic, while eight cases in the UK, including one in the North East, have been confirmed.

Dr Friedman will be in charge of handling any outbreak across Lancashire, from the trust’s headquarters on Lomeshaye industrial estate, Nelson.

The trust would co-ordinate the distribution of anti-viral drugs, as well as dispensing information and advice.

He said: “Over recent years, we have been putting in place our contingency plans for a potential flu pandemic coming our way.

“Obviously, we have had several co-ordination meetings over the past week to make sure everything is in place.

"We have put in place is in a state of readiness to act, should that be necessary.

“We recognise that the public will have concerns and all households will soon receive a national leaflet giving advice and guidance”

Dr Ruth Hussey, North West regional director of public health, added: “We know that people will be feeling concerned at the moment.

"However, we want to reassure them that the NHS is prepared.”

Watch the National Health Service's video advice on the swine flu outbreak

Lancashire holiday-makers

Lancashire holidaymakers are still waiting to find out whether their dream breaks will be cancelled, as swine flu continues to spread across the world.

Julie McNulty and Michael Farnworth, of Rose Hill, Burnley, have booked a “holiday of a lifetime”, flying first-class to the five-star Riu Tequila hotel in Playa Del Carmen, just a few miles from Cancun, Mexico, where the outbreak has centred.

Their 12-day holiday, booked with Thomson’s travel agents, has not yet been cancelled, but the virus has left Julie, a sales executive, uneasy.

She said: “We’re booked to fly in June 24, and holidays are only being cancelled with refunds up until May 22, so it’s a case of keeping a close eye on the news and seeing what develops.

“The flu has put me off going a bit, which is a shame because I had been really looking forward to going.

"It’s been booked for a few months and we’ve already paid for everything so there’s not a lot we can do.

“We’ve not had much luck this year – we went to Lanzarote in February and the rain was so bad we had to land on Gran Canaria instead, and now we’ve got this in Mexico.”

British holiday companies have suspended their operations to Mexico following the outbreak of the deadly swine flu virus.

Britons have been warned to avoid all but essential travel to the country as world health officials said the virus can no longer be contained.

Watch the Press Association's video from Manchester Airport as Mexico flights are cancelled

Mexicans in Lancashire

Mexican students at a Ribble Valley private school have been screened for the swine flu virus after an outbreak in Mexico and America.

Stonyhurst College has confirmed none of the students who went home to Mexico for the Easter break has displayed symptoms of the deadly fever.

Headmaster at Stonyhurst College, Andrew Johnson said: “We currently have nineteen Mexican pupils at Stonyhurst.

"Only some of them actually returned to Mexico during the Easter holidays.

“We put in place a screening process for pupils who were in Mexico over Easter, and none of them is ill.

“As far as we are aware, none of them has a relative in Mexico presenting symptoms of swine fever either.”

Pupils returned to Stonyhurst last Monday for the summer term, and Mr Johnson said this meant the one-week incubation period ended yesterday.

Swine flu - reported cases

Mexico has more than 2,500 suspected cases of swine flu, with more than 1,300 still in hospital.

Reports say at least 159 people have died from the flu strain there.

Cases have now also been confirmed in England, including Birmin-gham, London and Torbay.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation is sending a team to investigate claims that industrial pig farms in Mexico were the source of the outbreak in humans.

The agency's chief vete-rinary officer, Joseph Domenech, said there had been rumours that people had been falling ill last month near some intensive pig farms.

The US has confirmed several dozen cases, while cases have also been confirmed in Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Israel.

Swine flu - the facts

Swine flu, or swine Influenza, is a type A influenza virus in pigs which regularly spreads in the animals but is not normally transferred to humans.

Testing has shown that the human swine flu, H1N1, can be treated with the anti-viral oseltamavir (Tamiflu®) and zanamivir (Relenza®).

Swine flu is a respiratory disease. It is believed to spread through coughing and sneezing.

Covering the nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue when possible could prevent the disease from spreading.

The symptoms are similar to the that of regular human seasonal flu and include fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, coughing and sore throat. Some people with swine flu have also reported vomiting and diarrhoea.

Watch the Press Association's video from Mexico on the swine flu outbreak

Have you been in Mexico recently? Has your flight been cancelled? Call us on 01254 298220 or add your comments below.