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On the march

sp/nt, AFP/ReutersMay 6, 2009

The global swine flu epidemic has shown no signs of abating with the World Health Organization saying the virus has now affected 1,490 people in 21 countries, a significant jump from figures released earlier this week.

https://p.dw.com/p/HkQj
Doctors at a German hospital
Doctors in many countries are bracing for more infectionsImage: AP

Keiji Fukuda, acting assistant director-general at the World Health Organization, said on Tuesday that the 405 additional laboratory-confirmed cases reported to the WHO since Monday include some new infections.

But he said there was no evidence that swine flu transmissions in Europe have reached the same extent as in the United States or Mexico.

Fukuda said most of those infected with the so-called A/H1N1 virus were young people in their mid-20s.

The global body says there are now 1,490 cases and 30 confirmed deaths. Of those, 822 cases and 29 deaths were in Mexico and the United States had 403 cases and two deaths.

Canada had 140 cases, Spain 57, Britain 27, Germany nine, New Zealand six and Italy five.

Woman dies of virus in Texas

News of a hike in infections came as a woman from Texas became the first US resident believed to have died from swine flu. The death of the woman, who was in her 30s and had health problems, followed that of a Mexican toddler visiting Texas.

The United States has 403 confirmed cases of the swine flu in 38 states, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, with another 700 "probable" cases.

Asia's first person-to-person swine flu infection was confirmed by officials in South Korea, who said a nun had caught the disease from her colleague.

The WHO raised its alert status to level five last Wednesday, which indicates a pandemic is imminent, and its chief Margaret Chan again raised the prospect of it being increased to the maximum of six.

The organization said it had begun sending some 2.4 million courses of anti-viral Tamiflu drugs to 72 countries including Mexico, in an effort to combat the swine flu virus outbreak.