聽到墨西哥爆發豬流感疫情，令人感到憂心。希望消息是擴大報導，事實並非如此嚴重。要不，距離墨西哥最近的貝里斯，不就很難倖免?

還好，朋友從貝里斯當地報紙捎來信息，目前Quintana Roo並無任何病情發佈，貝里斯衛生單位也沒表示任何注意事項，表示墨西哥南部還是安全的。

There’s been an outbreak of a rare and deadly strain of swine flue in Mexico. Mexican authorities report 20 deaths from swine flu and said authorities were investigating 40 more possible fatalities and 943 possible infections. The World Health Organization went on high alert today, because there have been outbreaks in multiple communities in Mexico.

The flu-like symptoms resemble those of regular human influenza, including fever, lethargy, coughing and nausea except there is no human vaccine for swine flu. Authorities in Mexico have launched a huge campaign to prevent the spread of the virus, including closing schools and urging people to avoid contacts in public. The concern of the World Health Organization is amplified because "the viruses characterized in this outbreak have not been previously detected in pigs or humans."

Now what’s the threat to Belize? Well, the Belize Agricultural Health Authority has not issued any notice and at this time, we don’t know of any threat as we have not found any reports of any cases in Quintana Roo. But, it bears watching, because of the virulence of the outbreak and the fact that when Mexico sneezes, Belize can catch a cold. So we’ll keep you posted on it, but stress that at this time there has been no public health advisory for Belize.