By Noel Randewich and Armando Tovar
Reuters
Friday, April 24, 2009; 1:38 AM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is canceling classes for millions of
children in the heart of the country on Friday after mustery virus
killed around 20 people in recent weeks.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordoba said schools and universities
in Mexico City and the surrounding area would be temporarily closed and
advised people with flu symptoms to stay home from work.

"We're dealing with a new flu virus that constitutes a respiratory
epidemic that so far is controllable," Cordoba said on Thursday.

Canada's government advised doctors to be on the alert for reports of
illness from people who recently traveled to Mexico, although it did not
advise against visiting the popular beach vacation destination.
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Mexico's flu season normally ends in February or March, but it has
extended longer this year, the government said.

"We recommend avoiding places or events with a lot of people unless
strictly necessary," Cordoba said in an unusual late-night live
statement to media.

About 79 people, possibly ill with the flu, are being treated in Mexico
and that number has not increased in recent days, the Health Ministry said.

Worldwide, seasonal flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people in an
average year.

In the United States, seven people have been diagnosed with a new kind
of swine flu in California and Texas, the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reported.

All seven people there have recovered but the virus itself is a
never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and
humans, the CDC said.

Canadian officials have been particularly sensitive to the international
spread of respiratory illnesses since Toronto was hit by the SARS
epidemic in 2003, which was blamed partly on a slow response to early
disease reports.

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