Newswise — More than 1,600 "influenza like" cases have been reported in Mexico. Specimens examined by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control tested positive for swine flu virus. Mexico's Public Health Department confirmed that 22 people died from this new strain and 130 more deaths are suspected—raising fears of a pandemic.
Mexico-border states California and Texas had the first reported cases of swine flu outside of Mexico. There are confirmed cases in the U.S., New Zealand, Canada, the U.K and Spain, as well as suspected cases in France, Israel and Brazil.
The following University of Saskatchewan experts are available to comment on their areas of expertise.
Developing Swine Flu VaccineYan ZhouAdjunct ProfessorWestern College of Veterinary Medicine and Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization
Andrew PotterDirector of Vaccine and Infectious Disease OrganizationProfessor, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and School of Public Health
Dr. Zhou and Dr. Potter and their teams have developed potential vaccines for swine flu. They have tested them on pigs and have protected swine completely and partially against certain strains of swine flu. They are also studying the development of the disease in pigs. Dr. Zhou is also working on the related avian flu.
Swine Infective DiseasesJohn HardingAssociate ProfessorWestern College of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Harding has specialized in swine production medicine since 1991, and has consulted for large and small farms in Western Canada in the areas of health, production, nutrition and field research. He co-discovered and characterized the Post Weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome caused by porcine circovirus type 2.
Infectious Disease EpidemiologyHugh TownsendProfessorWestern College of Veterinary Medicine and Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization and School of Public Health
Dr. Townsend's research interests include infectious disease epidemiology, public health, vaccine formulation, delivery and efficacy, and the immune response to infection.
Pandemic Flu PlanningStephen WhiteheadAssistant ProfessorCollege of Medicine, Community Health and Epidemiology
Dr. Whitehead is a public health doctor who has a joint appointment between the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon Health Region Public Health Services. Dr. Whitehead has been involved in pandemic flu planning both in Canada and the U.K. His particular interest is in the multi-agency response to emergencies including infectious disease emergencies.
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) is a U of S research centre and a world leader in the research and development of vaccine and immunity-enhancing technologies for humans and animals. For more information visit: http://www.vido.org/.
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