Mexico hopeful of containing flu

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Mexico was optimistic yesterday that the swine flu epidemic is coming under control, while Spain reported 40 confirmed cases, making it the hardest-hit nation in Europe.

Mexico, at the epicenter of the international flu outbreak, said the national death toll had reached 19, but Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said "each day we're seeing fewer serious cases." He said "the mortality rate is dropping" and there were "enough elements to say that we are in a stabilization phase," according to an account by Agence France-Presse.

Just days earlier, the Mexican government had spoken of 159 "probable" deaths from the new variant of swine flu, which was shown to be spread by human-to-human contact. But stringent tests by U.S. and Canadian labs on the mountain of "probable" cases excluded most of them.

Spain hit hard
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon spoke for 20 minutes Saturday to share information about each country's efforts and the importance of close U.S.-Mexican cooperation, the White House said.

"This is a new strain of the flu virus, and because we haven't developed an immunity to it, it has more potential to cause us harm," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. "Unlike the various strains of animal flu that have emerged in the past, it's a flu that is spreading from human to human. This creates the potential for a pandemic, which is why we are acting quickly and aggressively." Swine flu cases have been confirmed in 18 countries so far Ñ including in Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region Ñ and experts believe the actual spread is much wider.

The Spanish Health Ministry said the country now has 40 confirmed cases of swine flu, making Spain the hardest-hit nation in Europe amid the swine flu outbreak. Five new patients were confirmed in the northeastern Catalan region, the ministry said, according to an account by The Associated Press. Another 99 people are still under investigation for the disease. Many Spaniards traditionally enjoy winter breaks in the warm waters of Mexican beach resorts and all but one of those infected had visited the former Spanish colony. Colombia announced its first case of A(H1N1) in a man living near the capital. The 42-year-old man infected by the swine flu virus lives in Zipaquira, not far from the nation's capital.