| The outbreak of swine flu that was
first detected in Mexico was declared a global epidemic on June 11,2009．It is
the first worldwide epidemic{{U}} (1) {{/U}}by the World Health
Organization in 41 years. The heightened alert{{U}} (2) {{/U}}an emergency meeting with flu experts in Geneva that assembled after a sharp rise in cases in Australia, and rising{{U}} (3) {{/U}}in Britain, Japan, Chile and elsewhere. But the epidemic is "{{U}} (4) {{/U}}" in severity, according to Margaret Chan, the organization's director general,{{U}} (5) {{/U}}the overwhelming majority of patients experiencing only mild symptoms and a full recovery, often in the{{U}} (6) {{/U}}of any medical treatment. The outbreak came to global{{U}} (7) {{/U}}in late April 2009, when Mexican authorities noted an unusually large number of hospitalizations and deaths{{U}} (8) {{/U}}healthy adults. As much of Mexico City shut down at the height of a panic, cases began to{{U}} (9) {{/U}}in New York City, the southwestern United States and around the world. In the United States, new cases seemed to fade{{U}} (10) {{/U}}warmer weather arrived. But in late September 2009, officials reported there was{{U}} (11) {{/U}}flu activity in almost every state and that virtually all the{{U}} (12) {{/U}}tested are the new swine flu, also known as (A) H1N1, not seasonal flu. In the U. S. , it has{{U}} (13) {{/U}}more than one million people, and caused more than 600 deaths and more than 6,000 hospitalizations. Federal health officials{{U}} (14) {{/U}}Tamiflu for children from the national stockpile and began {{U}}(15) {{/U}}orders from the states for the new swine flu vaccine. The new vaccine, which is different from the annual flu vaccine, is{{U}} (16) {{/U}}ahead of expectations. More than three million doses were to be made available in early October 2009, though most of those{{U}} (17) {{/U}}dose were of the FluMist nasal spray type, which is not{{U}} (18) {{/U}}for pregnant women, people over 50 or those with breathing difficulties, heart disease or several other{{U}} (19) {{/U}}. But it was still possible to vaccinate people in other high-risk groups: health care workers, people{{U}} (20) {{/U}}infants and healthy young people. |