# 3587
Lisa Schnirring of CIDRAP news brings us some new details that call into question yesterday’s AFP (Agence France-Presse) report of Tamiflu resistant flu strain having been detected near the Mexican Border.
I reported on this wire story yesterday.
Today the PAHO (Pan-American Health Organization) official who was quoted by AFP states that she was misquoted by the reporter, and that they have not detected any Tamiflu resistant cases on the Mexican Border.
Follow the link to read Lisa’s report in its entirety.
PAHO rejects report of resistant H1N1 cases on US-Mexico border
Lisa Schnirring
Staff Writer
Aug 4, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – A Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) official today rejected a media report that quoted her as saying that antiviral-resistant cases of novel H1N1 influenza had been found along the US-Mexican border.
Details in the original article, published by Agence France-Presse (AFP), were sketchy and at times confusing. The report, which quoted Maria Teresa Cerqueira, PhD, chief of PAHO's US-Mexico border office in El Paso, Tex., said a few oseltamivir (Tamiflu)-resistant cases had been detected in El Paso and near McAllen, Tex.
The story quoted her as saying one patient diagnosed with a resistant strain had been treated with zanamivir (Relenza) and that "another was given no alternative treatment." The article didn't say if either of the patients was initially treated with Tamiflu.
But in an e-mail message today, Cerqueira said she was misquoted. She sent the message to PAHO, which shared it with CIDRAP News.
