[Editor's note]: Since yesterday, Phase 4 has been raised to Phase 5 alert. Tune in here for up-to-the-minute updates from the World Health Organization.

CBC radio announced this morning, that there are potentially 2000 more cases floating around in Mexico.

Thousands of articles are launched by the minute, with updates on new cases, quarantines, and tips for travelers. As it spreads rather swiftly, already crossing two continents, we’re watching in alarm the potential pandemic. Among the most recent reports, eleven students from New Zealand are affected from a recent trip, and the first case has been found in Israel.

Yesterday, the World Health Organization has raised the level of the influenza pandemic alert from Phase 3 to 4. According to their website, Phase 4 is characterized by proven human-to-human transmission, with the ability to cause “community-level outbreaks”. It also indicates a significant shift forward in the risks involved (read more here).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that, unless imperative, you should cancel any plans if heading to Mexico,and take precautions if you’ve returned.

Swine flu symptoms include high fever, body aches, headaches, coughing, sore throat, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue and chills. It’s highly contagious – a single cough can transmit it.. The CDC recommends washing your hands regularly with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing, avoid close contact with sick people, and avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

Bookmark their website for daily information with statistics, alerts, and new details.

Image courtesy of REUTERS/Claudia Daut

The old debate

The controversy began with a 2001 article in the journal Nature, which explained that genetic material was detected in native Mexican corn. With crops thousands of years old, genetic modification threatens preserving the native genetic diversity.  The article was widely criticized due to the study’s methodology, and soon after, Nature added an editor’s note explaining that there was not enough evidence to justify the article and the findings.

Another article four years later was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and consequently found no evidence of genetic modifications.

The new findings

With debates still reigning, author Elena Alvarez Buylla continued to explore the crops, doing additional research and testing, to see if she could lend a hand in solving the debates… and finding the truth. Using much bigger samples, more genetic tests, and different techniques, her studies paid off: she soon discovered that the corn did, indeed, show contamination. What she also found was a possible answer to why there have been contrasting discoveries: depending on the location, the amount of contamination differed from 0% up to 10%.

Some journals declined to publish her research, due to drawing, what they decided was, unneeded attention to the debate. Regardless, these findings are significant – and in fact, help solve the previous issues.
Molecular Ecology luckily felt differently, understanding it’s scientific importance, and Buylla was able to put some controversies at rest.

The results

But questions still remain: Where is this genetic contamination coming from? Are there sources of imported hybrid corn? How is it spread?

Buylla commented that now that these discoveries have been made, science, and time, will tell. Undoubtedly, her research has only begun.

Source: Mother Nature Network
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