Mexico shuts schools around capital in flu scare

Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:56am EDT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is canceling classes for millions of children in the heart of the country on Friday after influenza killed around 20 people in recent weeks.
Canada's government advised doctors to be on the alert for reports of illness from people who recently traveled to Mexico, although it did not advise against visiting the popular beach vacation destination.
Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordoba said on Thursday schools and universities in Mexico City and the surrounding area would be closed on Friday and advised people with flu symptoms to stay home from work.
"We recommend avoiding places or events with a lot of people unless strictly necessary," Cordoba said.
Mexico's flu season normally ends in February or March, but it has extended longer this year, the government said.
Canadian officials have been particularly sensitive to the international spread of respiratory illnesses since Toronto was hit by the SARS epidemic in 2003, which was blamed partly on a slow response to early disease reports.
About 79 people in Mexico are being treated for flu and that number has not increased in recent days, the Health Ministry said.
In the United States, seven people have been diagnosed with a new kind of swine flu in California and Texas, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
All seven people there have recovered but the virus itself is a never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and humans, the CDC said.