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Global H1N1 flu death toll approaches 100
MEXICO CITY - The worldwide death toll for Influenza A (H1N1) was
creeping up to triple digits on Monday with new deaths in North
America, while a clutch of new cases emerged in Europe, Asia and Latin
America.
According to the latest United Nations' World Health Organisation
tally, 12,515 people have been infected with A(H1N1) across 46
countries, including 91 deaths.
The figure represents a rise of 493 cases on the previous WHO total
and included five new deaths in Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak,
but did not include the newest three Mexico deaths, one more fatality
in Canada and two more deaths in the United States, bringing the global
toll to 97.
Mexico's Health Ministry on Monday confirmed a rise in the
country's flu deaths to 83, with more than 4,458 confirmed infections
from the virus.
US media also reported that a woman in Chicago with underlying
medical conditions died from the virus, following confirmation from
health officials Sunday that a New York woman in her fifties had died
from the disease.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the virus in 6,764 cases.
A 44-year-old Toronto man on Monday became the second person in
Canada to die of A(H1N1) flu, as the country's latest figures showed
805 cases nationwide.
Honduras, Iceland and Kuwait meanwhile reported infections to the
WHO for the first time, with Honduras and Iceland posting a case each
and Kuwait reporting 18 cases in US soldiers who have since left the
country.
In Hong Kong, officials confirmed two new cases of A(H1N1) flu in
young children who arrived on a flight from New York on Sunday, raising
the city's total number of cases to nine.
Also stemming from a New York infection, the Czech Republic
registered its first A(H1N1) flu case involving an adult male from
Prague who recently came back from the northeastern US metropolis.
Worldwide, fears grew while attempts to contain the disease continued.
Japanese shops ran out of face masks amid the outbreak as local
authorities and bloggers offered tips on making homemade masks from
kitchen paper, coffee filters and even sanitary pads.
The western city of Tatsuno even gives handy hints on its official
website on fashioning a basic anti-flu mask from gauze, tissue and a
pair of rubber bands.
Latin America saw most of the new A(H1N1) flu cases on Monday, as
Ecuador's infected tally rose to 24 over the weekend after officials
reported 10 on Friday, and Peru raised its confirmed A(H1N1) flu cases
by two to 27.
Ecuador's health ministry warned on its website that the virus
"displays a great capacity for transmission between humans, and it
spreads rapidly between countries, meaning nations need to work
together to mitigate the epidemic's impact."
Mexico's confirmed infections tally of 4,458 on Monday soared from 4,094 before the weekend, according to official statistics.
In China, authorities confirmed two more cases of the A(H1N1) flu
in a 19-year-old man in the eastern Zhejiang province and in a
30-year-old Shanghai man, bringing the total number in the world's most
populous nation to 11.
The new cases emerged after 18 US soldiers who tested positive for
A(H1N1) flu were removed Sunday from a military base in Kuwait, where
authorities said there was no sign the flu had spread to the local
population.
Arab countries in the Gulf region, which have millions of foreign
workers, have so far not reported any confirmed cases of the flu.
But authorities have stepped up surveillance of travellers at
airports, with Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi installing thermal cameras.
Australian state health authorities meanwhile Monday urged school
children returning from a range of countries affected by A(H1N1) flu to
stay away from school for a week.
Parents whose children have visited the United States, Canada,
Japan, Mexico or Panama have been urged to keep them at home to help
fight the virus' spread.
Eighteen people in Australia have been confirmed as having A(H1N1)
flu, most of them in Victoria where eight of the state's 11 cases are
school students.
Several schools have already been temporarily closed as part of a
package of measures announced Friday after confirmation of the
country's first case of human-to-human transmission.
In South Korea, the 22nd confirmed case of A(H1N1) flu followed a
sharp weekend rise in reported infections, according to health ministry
reports.
Source from channelnewsasia.com
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