Regardless of warnings by the Canadian Government that a high degree of caution should be exercised when visiting Mexico, last year 1.4 million Canadians visited Mexico, which is an increase of 20% over the year before. International tourism to Mexico increased in January despite the increased dangers.

In 2008, more than 6,000 people were killed in drug violence in Mexico.
The most dangerous areas are the U.S. border towns - Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and Nogales where public shootouts have occurred in broad daylight in shopping centres and other public venues. As a result Canadians have been warned to stay away from large gatherings and demonstrations.

Now it appears that a new strain of flu may be more dangerous than the drug cartels. According to WHO (World Health Organization) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this is a brand new virus that is a combination of swine, human and avian flu viruses. So far there have been over 1,300 reported cases in Mexico and 81 people have died as a result.

In Ottawa, Canadian public health officials have confirmed at least 6 six cases in Nova Scotia and British Columbia that are directly linked to Mexican travel. Thankfully the symptoms have been extremely mild and everyone is doing just fine. The question now is how widespread is this new strain of flu and will it be able to be contained or become pandemic?

For more information contact the Public Health Agency of Canada or Fight Flu.