Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) remains vigilant regarding the rapid development of the North America flu (the H1N1 flu virus), the presence of which is currently confirmed in no less than four courtries in Europe.

Specific attention is being given to resource poor settings, where the capacity to establish strong monitoring and response activities is limited.

MSF projects in Guatemala and Honduras are participating closely in meetings with designated health officials and international partners. MSF health personnel have been alerted and trained on providing basic care in the event of an outbreak.

To date, there has not been any confirmed case reported from Guatemala or Honduras. In the absence of further information, MSF maintains the need to stay factual on the progress and focus on reinforcing MSF missions in promoting basic hygiene care, surveillance and use of personal protections like masks as much as possible.

MSF encourages national programs to activate their surveillance systems to detect potential spread in developing countries and will continue to follow the situation in resource poor settings closely and consider supporting sanitary authorities if needed in case of an outbreak.