Immigrant and civil rights groups fear that as the number of A/H1N1 flu cases increase, it could turn into a racist issue.

The World Health Organization confirmed on Monday that there were 1,447 A/H1N1 flu cases in 20 countries and the Associated Press reported 383 cases in 35 states in the United States.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) said in a recent statement that as the number of the H1N1flu cases increase in the US, some "conservative commentators ... have engaged in racist, anti-immigrant, anti-public health diatribes that do little to educate the public about the outbreak and further divides our nation at a time when scientifically sound information is needed by all."

Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA, said there is no evidence to suggest that immigrants are or have ever been responsible for the spread of a particular illness.

"The public deserves to know the facts about the H1N1 flu and they should hold these commentators accountable for their disservice to our nation at such a critical time," she said.

Salas said immigrants in the US are just as concerned about the flu outbreak as every other person and look toward the government and public health officials to keeping them out of harm's way. She urged immigrant communities throughout the United States to "ignore racist comments and not be afraid to seek veritable information and services from health care and community organizations should they need it."

Steward Kwoh, director of the Asian Pacific Legal Center in Los Angeles, a non-profit civil rights organization, said it was outrageous that some commentators were making ethnic groups the scapegoat as the country battles the spread of the H1N1 flu.

Kwoh told Xinhua in an interview on Monday that a flu outbreak could start anywhere, and spread very quickly because of the ease of travel and inter-connections. He said it was important for the U.S. to cooperate with other countries to stop the spread of the disease and not try to make some people the scapegoat.

The attack on ethnic groups and immigrants started after the outbreak of the H1N1 flu. A commentator Jay Severin called Mexican immigrants "criminals," "primitives" and "leeches" on Boston's WTKK-FM radio.

Michael Savage, another talk show host, blamed Mexicans for the spread of the disease. He even speculated that terrorists were using Mexican immigrants as walking germ warfare weapons to spread the virus in the United States.

Health experts said that fear and blame were counterproductive and even dangerous in any disease outbreak because the more stigmatized any group feels, the more reluctant they are to seek medical care. That only helps propagate the disease.

Larry Kline, a member of the US-Mexico Border Health Commission, said blame-the-victim reactions can be fought with clear, accurate information about the disease and about how it is spreading.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2009)