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[Bianca]

                                              New flu: Fazio downplays fears



                                           Mexican woman hospitalised in Naples






 (ANSA)
- Rome,
April 29, 2009

- New flu will in all likelihood arrive in Italy but it appears to be less aggressive than normal seasonal flu, Welfare Undersecretary Ferruccio Fazio said on Wednesday.

''We expect to see the first confirmed cases in Italy quite soon but we are not alarmed given the clinical evolution of the flu in other countries,'' Fazio observed.

While there have been no confirmed cases in Italy yet, on Wednesday a resident of Salerno was transferred to a Naples hospital for tests and analyses on suspicion she had contracted the new flu.

The patient, a 63-year-old Mexican female university lecturer, was taken to Cotugno Hospital which hosts the regional center for infectious diseases.

''I'm optimistic because this virus does not appear to be very aggressive. Of course, there is always the risk of a mutation, but from what we have seen in the United States this flu is less aggressive than a normal winter influenza''.

Between 250,000 and 500,000 people die each year from seasonal flu.

A total of 159 people have died from flu in Mexico, where the outbreak originated, but the death rate has slowed considerably and Mexican authorities said Tuesday that only seven deaths can definitively be attributed to the specific variation of the new flu virus, which is apparently a mutated combination of swine, bird and human flu.

Until now there have been no deaths outside of Mexico, but on Wednesday there were reports of a first flu death in the United States, apparently a 23-month child.

Germany on Wednesday became the eighth country to report confirmed cases of the new flu. The others are Mexico, where the outbreak originated, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Israel, Britain and Spain.

Fazio, who holds the portfolio for health, also said he was in favor of not calling the new flu 'swine flu', as it was originally named.

''I'm in favor of a name change because this new virus passes from man to man and pigs have nothing to do with it,'' he explained.

''While bird flu continues to pass between birds and to man, as recent cases in Egypt have shown, this flu is only passing from man to man and thus it makes no sense to call it 'swine' flu,'' he added.

The undersecretary said he was in favor of the World Health Organization (WHO) changing the name of the influenza to either 'new flu', as the European Union has, or 'Mexican flu', as some Asian countries and Israel have.

Pig farmers and major pork-producing countries have been pushing for an official name change to avoid a consumer backlash similar to the one which hit poultry sales during the bird flu scare.

According to Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia, the media is blowing the risk of a pandemic out of proportion which is not only putting pork sales at risk but also opening the door to market speculation.

''What we are seeing is a media pandemic because by calling this swine flu there is a serious risk of major damage to a whole sector,'' Zaia observed.

According to the minister, there has been an 8% drop in pork sales and, if prices fall, ''people should stock up on the meat because it is perfectly safe to eat''.

Zaia also threw his support to have the WHO to officially change the flu's name and said he preferred 'Mexican flu'.