Swine flu prompts Russia to suspend meat imports from Mexico, several U.S. states

By Tom Johnston on 4/27/2009
MeatingPlace.com

Russia has suspended imports of all meat from Mexico and the U.S. states of Texas, California and Kansas shipped after April 21 on fears of the spread of swine flu, the Russian government's veterinary watchdog said in an announcement posted on its Web site.

The suspension also applies to pork shipped after April 21 from the U.S. states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Florida, and the nations of Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama and El Salvador.

An outbreak of swine flu, or the H1N1 virus, is believed to have originated in Mexico last week, caused more than 80 deaths and sickened some 1,400 people in that country.

The U.S. government on Sunday declared a public health emergency in response to 20 cases in the states of New York (eight), California (seven), Texas (two), Kansas (two) and Ohio (one). All patients have recovered, authorities said. Cases also recently have been reported in Canada.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza among pigs. Though the disease normally does not infect humans, human infections do occur, most commonly among people who are exposed to pigs. However, cases of human-to-human spread of swine flu viruses have been documented. Symptoms resemble those of regular flu.