New Zealand and Israel confirmed cases of swine flu today, the latest countries hit by a new strain that has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and which threatens to become a pandemic.
The World Health Organisation raised its alert level to phase 4 last night indicating a significantly increased risk of pandemic and is considering elevating it further. Global markets tumbled for a second day today on fears the outbreak could snuff out fragile signs of economic recovery.
No one has died outside Mexico but more than 50 infected people have been found in the United States, six in Canada and two each in Spain and Scotland. Possible cases are also being tested in Ireland, England, South Korea and Australia.
A top World Health Organisation official said today the number of swine flu cases confirmed by tests in a laboratory has increased to 79 around the world. WHO acting assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda also told reporters that both British and three New Zealand cases were among travellers returning from Mexico.
New Zealand said three of 11 people in a school group that visited Mexico had tested positive and it expected the others would also turn out to be positive when tests were completed. Health minister Tony Ryall said all those affected appeared to have only mild symptoms and had been responding to treatment.
Authorities have tracked down most of the 356 people on the same flight from Los Angeles as the infected students.
Israel today confirmed its second case of swine flu, after tests showed a man who recently returned from Mexico and was hospitalised had contracted the virus. Earlier the Health Ministry said it had diagnosed Israel's first case of the disease, contracted by another man who had returned from a trip to Mexico.
In Spain, where a second case was confirmed today, the health ministry said that a further 25 people were also being tested for swine flu.
One of the mysteries of the current outbreak is why all cases outside Mexico have so far been relatively mild.
The WHO said the flu was being spread by human-to-human transmission but it did not advise any travel restrictions or border closures.
Britain, France, Germany and the United States issued travel alerts for Mexico, which relies on tourism as a main source of foreign currency. Japan advised its citizens in Mexico to consider returning home soon.
China promised to disclose any cases promptly. State-run newspapers urged officials to be open and avoid the kind of cover-up that brought panic during the SARS epidemic in 2003.
Experts say that while it is impossible to stop the spread of the disease, efforts to slow its progression around the world could buy crucial time for countries to procure essential drugs. The last flu pandemic, a Hong Kong flu outbreak in 1968, killed about one million people around the world.
In Mexico, epicentre of the latest outbreak, people from company directors to couriers wore face masks while airlines checked passengers for flu symptoms.
Mexico City shut restaurants, bars, cinemas, stadiums and some government offices to stop the infection from spreading.
Unsure how worried they should be, people stocked up on food, drinking water, rental movies and surgical masks. Some opted to work from home. Schools were closed until May 6th.
Facing damage to tourism and trade -- motors of an economy that is already tipping into recession from the global downturn -- Mexico said it would not order a mass closure of businesses to try to contain the infection.
"Economic activity must continue," Labour minister Javier Lozano told a news conference.
Worldwide, seasonal flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people in an average year. The new strain is worrying as it spreads rapidly between humans and there is no vaccine for it.
Most of the latest fatalities have been people aged between 20 and 50, an ominous sign because a hallmark of past pandemics has been the high rate of fatalities among young adults.
Mexican media have speculated the flu may have originated at a pig farm in the southeastern state of Veracruz.
But health minister Jose Angel Cordova said the first case that alerted authorities to a possible rogue flu strain was in the southern state of Oaxaca. It was too early to identify the cause or geographical source of the virus.
WHO also said it did not know where the outbreak started.
The first victims may not have recognised they were infected with a new type of flu requiring different treatment than normal flu, they may not have received the medicines until late, or they may have been infected with other diseases reducing their immunity to the virus, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said in Geneva.
Officials say the virus is not caught from eating pig meat products but several countries banned US pork imports as a precaution.
The heavy volume of visitors to Mexico only underscores the risk of contagion. Airlines fly more than a million passengers in and out of Mexico City's international airport each week.
Reuters