...About 100 students complained of flu-like symptoms at the school. Some students went to Cancun on a spring break trip two weeks ago....
We have witnessed on recent occassions the difficulty the government has to uphold their laws regarding drug cartels. It required a huge, diligent and concentrated effort by the Mexican President himself to START to bring the violence under control. In more distant events, when hurricanes have struck this area, it was skeptical as to whether there was even a warning system in place.
It is no different than attempting to get a 'quality report' on the dead of Iraq due to the USA invasion. There is no comprehensive authority, nor are there state of the art facilities, so the accuracy of any 'death toll' or 'mortality rate' is nearly impossible. It was that reality that played to the favor of Rumsfeld, Bush and Cheney.
It only makes sense some of the best statistical reporting will be coming from Mexico City. The authority of the government is there and better quality health facilities will come to bear when confronting deadly viruses. I will also say this, the region of Cancan and all along the Gulf coast of Mexico is a high volume tourist region where there is better access to health care. So there is a chance there is some 'trend' seen by the local health care people even if there is no reporting by a government agency.
I strongly suggest the World Health Organization take the lead and obtain permission to conduct studies throughout Mexico to determine the rate at which the virus has caused death. Not only that, but, Mexico is the 'interim' country where those that seek to leave Latin American and South American countries heading to the USA border congregate in their planning to cross the USA border illegally.
I believe the flu has a high potential to already be pandemic at least through the Americas south of the USA border.
There is also a danger in that the western border regions of Mexico (as well as some of the other countries south of the USA border) are laced with violence. This is not a simple assignment for the WHO. It may be that only spotty reporting of any accuracy can be obtained, and from that 'region by region' a statistical guess can be derived.
