Swine flu cases soar again
2009-05-16 16:04
Geneva - The number of confirmed swine flu cases has soared again to top 8 000, the World Health Organisation said on Saturday as India and Turkey reported their first infections.
Japan also confirmed its first three infections among teenage students who had not picked up the virus abroad, and officials voiced fears that it would spread in the country.
The number of people killed by the influenza A(H1N1) virus rose to 72, compared with 65 on Friday, with six more in Mexico and one in the United States, the WHO said.
Over the past week the number of people infected by the virus has risen sharply, going up by around 1 000 a day since Monday to reach 8 451 on Saturday.
The United States, followed by Mexico, where the epidemic began about three weeks ago, have recorded the highest number of cases.
At the European Conference on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Helsinki, health experts defended Mexico and the WHO in their handling of swine flu.
They said that even though the threat so far had turned out smaller than feared, their measures had placed the world on a stronger footing to combat the virus if it resurges in a more lethal form.
- AFP