winemouth wrote:
This is somewhat worrying:
Quote:
WHO says it's sending team to Ukraine to probe reports of serious H1N1 activity
(CP) – 31 minutes ago
GENEVA — The World Health Organization is sending a team of experts to Ukraine to look into reports of severe H1N1 disease there, a spokesperson for the global health agency said Friday.
Gregory Hartl said the team was being pulled together by the WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, which goes by the acronym GOARN.
The team will travel early next week to the eastern European country, which has closed schools and banned public meetings in response to a spike in cases of acute respiratory illness believed to be H1N1.
"This is something that certainly needs investigating," Hartl said from Geneva.
He said the government of Ukraine is being forthcoming with information on the outbreak, which is said to centre on three regions in the western part of the country.
The country, which is in the midst of an election campaign, has reportedly imposed strict measures to slow the spread of the virus.
According to the BBC, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said there would also be restrictions on what she called non-urgent travel between different parts of Ukraine.
Reports on the number of deaths vary, some suggesting Tymoshenko had said only one person has died of the virus but her rival, President Viktor Yushchenko, has said 11 Ukrainians have died so far.
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Yes, I agree that the WHO response team is a concern, and the media treatment, while factually correct, is VERY misleading. The government site shows 30 deaths as of yesterday and there is little doubt doubt that most or all died of H1N1, but is characterized as ONE or ELEVEN deaths, based on limited testing. In addition to the 30 listed by the government, media reports describe more cases at more locations.
The report above is internally inconsistant because WHO would not be sending a team to investigate ONE death or ELEVEN deaths (and I think that 30 deaths would be borderline with regard to the creation of an investigative team).
This is looking more and more like a "Houston" event.
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