H1N1 watch

The Ministry of Health and health officials world-wide are concerned about the threat of pandemic influenza. 

H1N1 – Swine influenza

At this time, they are keeping a very close eye on swine influenza.

The Ministry of Health will keep you regularly updated on New Zealand's current status.


The pandemic influenza threat

 

There are no certainties about pandemic influenza – nobody knows if or when it will happen, when it would hit New Zealand if it did, or how severe it would be. However, the threat is sufficiently high that governments and agencies all over the world are planning for a possible pandemic. Canterbury health services are working together to ensure a collaborative approach to this planning.

 

 
H5N1 - avian influenza virus

The first documented infection of humans with an avian influenza virus occurred in Hong Kong in 1997, when the H5N1 strain caused sever respiratory disease in 18 humans, six of whom died.

Of the 15 avian influenza virus subtypes, H5N1 is of particular concern because it mutates rapidly and tends to acquire genes from viruses infecting other animal species.

The epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza caused by H5N1, which began in mid-December 2003 in the Republic of Korea and is now being seen in other Asian and some European countries, is therefore of particular public health concern.