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Fears that a deadly virus could spread west from Ukraine Sunday November 15,2009
By Greg Miskiw
Daily Express A DEADLY plague could sweep across Europe, doctors fear, after an
outbreak of a virus in Ukraine plunged the country and its neighbours
into a state of panic.
A cocktail of three flu viruses are reported to have mutated into a
single pneumonic plague, which it is believed may be far more dangerous
than swine flu. The death toll has reached 189 and more than 1 million
people have been infected, most of them in the nine regions of Western
Ukraine. President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko has called in the World Health
Organisation and a team of nine specialists are carrying out tests in
Kiev and Lviv to identify the virus. Samples have been sent to London
for analysis. resident Yushchenko said: “People are dying. The epidemic is killing
doctors. This is absolutely inconceivable in the 21st Century.” In a TV interview, the President added: “Unlike similar epidemics in
other countries, three causes of serious viral infections came together
simultaneously in Ukraine – two seasonal flus and the Californian flu “Virologists conclude that this combination of infections may produce an
even more aggressive new virus as a result of mutation.” Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been touring hospitals where victims
are being treated and presidential elections in January could be cancelled . Four men and one woman have died from the flu in Lviv, said emergency
hospital chief doctor Myron Borysevych. Two of the dead patients were in
the 22-35 age group, with two others over 60. He diagnosed the disease
as viral pneumonia “We have sent the analyses to Kiev. We don’t believe it’s H1N1 swine
flu. Neither do we know what kind of pneumonia it is.” Universities, schools and kindergartens have been closed, public
meetings have been banned and theatres shut. Last week several border
crossings in the country were also closed. Last night reports emerged of profiteering over face masks, which have
sold out since the outbreak. There are also incidents of anti-virus
medication being sold for exorbitant prices. A spokesman for the World
Health Organisation said: “We do not have a time scale for the results
of the tests in London, although some preliminary results have been
obtained. I cannot tell you what they are. “We did not have enough of the virus samples so we will have to grow
some more before we can come to a conclusive decision about its nature.” Neighbouring Poland has called on the EU to take action, fearing the
mystery virus may spread westwards. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has written to European Commission President
Jose Manuel Barroso and the Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt,
who holds the EU presidency, saying: “The character of this threat
demands that rapid action be undertaken at the European Union level.” Russia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania, countries that border
Ukraine, have already launched health checks on Ukrainians entering
their territory. Slovakia has closed two of five border crossings. A doctor in Western Ukraine who did not want to be named, said:” We have
carried out post mortems on two victims and found their lungs are as
black as charcoal. “They look like they have been burned. It’s terrifying.”
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