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787 H1N1 flu cases in 17 countries

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-04 14:08

GENEVA/ MEXICO CITY: The World Health Organization (WHO) said Sunday its laboratories had identified a total of 787 H1N1 flu infections in 17 countries, including one case in Ireland, while Mexico said the epidemic appeared to be declining.

WHO said there were 19 confirmed deaths in Mexico, the epicenter of the H1N1 flu.

A South Korean health official checks the temperature of a foreign Buddhist monk upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, May 3, 2009. [Agencies]

WHO's toll lags national reports about the virus but is considered more scientifically secure.

Its most recent figures show 506 people have been infected in Mexico and 160 people have been infected in the United States, the two countries most affected by the virus widely known as swine flu. There has also been one US death, identified by authorities there as a Mexican infant.

Earlier Sunday, WHO had said there were 397 infections in Mexico and 16 deaths there. The UN agency said its figures changed because of "ongoing testing of previously collected specimens" and not new reported infections.

Special coverage: A (H1N1) Influenza Outbreat Related readings:  Mexican boy, 1st infector of flu, recovering  No flu sign on quarantined passengers so far  Masks in global fashion amid swine flu  New swine flu cases in Europe, US, Latin America

In Mexico, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the country's H1N1 flu virus epidemic had passed its peak and was declining,

"The evolution of the epidemic is now in its phase of descent," Cordova told a news conference. He said the outbreak appeared to have peaked in Mexico between April 23 and 28.

The WHO has also confirmed flu infections, without deaths, in the following countries and regions: Austria (1), Canada (70), Hong Kong (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), France (2), Germany (6), Ireland (1), Israel (3), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), South Korea (1), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and Britain (15).

Virus continues to spread

Germany and Italy reported new cases of the H1N1 flu Sunday while South Korea considered a probable case Sunday, a day after it confirmed its first case.

German health authorities raised their total Sunday to eight confirmed cases. A married couple from the state of Brandenburg were just diagnosed - and they had been on the same flight as a man from Hamburg who had swine flu after visiting Mexico.

In Italy, the Health Ministry reported the country's second case of swine flu, a 25-year-old man who had also traveled to Mexico. The agency said the man was fine and was being kept in isolation at home.

In South Korea, a day after officials confirmed that a 51-year-old nun had been infected by the virus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDCP) said a 62-year-old woman was a probable case of infection and was quarantined at a state hospital.

The woman returned home on April 26 on the same flight as the nun with the confirmed infection, the KCDCP said in a statement. Health officials said that a 44-year-old woman, also a nun who lived with the infected 51-year-old, was showing symptoms after picking her up from the airport.

Pig cull sparks clashes

Egyptian police fired tear gas and clashed with irate pig farmers Sunday, leaving 12 people injured as owners resisted the government's attempt to slaughter all the nation's pigs to guard against the H1N1 flu.

Cairo security chief General Ismail Shaer said 14 people were arrested and 7 police were among the injured in the clashes with the largely Christian garbage collectors who raise pigs on the refuse.

Police were sent in after farmers resisted initial efforts by government workers to haul their pigs away.

AP-AFP-Reuters