Second swine flu death reported in US

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Texas health officials late on Tuesday announced the first death of a U.S. resident with swine flu, and said she was a 33-year-old schoolteacher who had recently given birth to a healthy baby. The only other swine flu death in the U.S. was of a Mexico City baby who also had underlying health problems and had been visiting relatives in Brownsville, near Harlingen. He died last week at a Houston children's hospital.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, said it expected "more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths from this outbreak" in the weeks ahead. But at the same time, health authorities eased the restrictions for school closures, a move seen as a possible sign that the worst of the outbreak might well be over.

"This is presenting itself more like seasonal flu," U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying.

The 33-year-old woman was pregnant and delivered a healthy baby while hospitalized, said Leonel Lopez, Cameron County epidemiologist. She was a teacher in the Mercedes Independent School District, which announced it would close its schools until Monday.

Normality, reunion

Meanwhile, Mexico, the epicenter of the crisis, was taking its first steps towards a resumption of normality with offices and restaurants cleared to reopen from
morning.High schools and universities are to open today, to be followed by primary schools and kindergartens next Monday. There was no immediate word however when cinemas, theaters and nightclubs in Mexico City would be permitted to open their doors again.

"We have a lot of confidence nothing is going to happen," Irineo Moreno Gonzales, 54, a security guard, told The Associated Press. "Mexicans have the same spirit we've always had. We're ready to move forward."

Also yesterday, dozens of Mexican nationals who were quarantined at hospitals and hotels in China despite showing no symptoms of swine flu arrived home on a government-chartered jet. First lady Margarita Zavala and officials from the Foreign Relations Department greeted the passengers as they deplaned the Aeromexico flight at Mexico City's international airport. Authorities did not say exactly how many were on the plane but estimated the number at about 140.

"I'm very happy to be back in Mexico," passenger Oscar Fernandez told reporters. "We were in quarantine for four days in Guanghzou but they treated us very well."

Mexico has criticized the quarantine as unfair and discriminatory, as the Chinese government has defended its measures to block the swine flu virus from entering the world's most- populous nation.

In other parts of the world yesterday, Swedish authorities confirmed the Scandinavian country's first case of swine flu. The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control said that a woman who recently visited the United States tested positive for the virus. It said the woman, who is in her 50s, has now recovered from the flu.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he will ask governments to reverse trade and travel restrictions lacking a clear scientific basis. Dr. David Nabarro, senior U.N. coordinator for influenza, said countries must explain to WHO their rationale for such measures, and that their effectiveness is likely minimal at best.