Flu, Virus | featured news

Canadian officials say pigs in the province of Alberta have been infected with the new swine flu virus and are under quarantine.

After a week of headlines about the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, many emergency rooms and hospitals are crammed with people, many of whom don't need to be there. "We are spending significant time in the emergency department, calming people down," says a doctor whose company oversees 18 emergency rooms in Southern California.

The World Health Organization said on Friday that tests had shown the current seasonal vaccine against flu would have little effect against the new H1N1 strain.

Hong Kong will quarantine about 300 hotel guests and staff for a week after a guest was found to have the A/H1N1 flu virus.

A late afternoon tally by the U.S. Department of Education found that 298 schools around the country had shut down for a few days, triple the number that had been closed on Wednesday. The closings affected about 172,000 students, leaving parents scrambling to find alternative day care arrangements.

At least 74 elementary, junior high and high schools have closed across the country because of confirmed or probable cases of swine flu, the Department of Education said Wednesday.

The swine flu outbreak has claimed its first victim in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Contro and Preventionl: A 23-month old child who died in Texas.

The 5-year-old from a village in Mexico identified as the earliest swine flu case says, "I feel good."

The White House asked Congress for an additional $1.5 billion for pandemic flu preparations Tuesday as the head of the Republican Party defended its opposition to an earlier request.