Global flu cases exceed 10,000, WHO reports

  • 21/05/2009

  • Asian Wall Street Journal (Hong Kong)

Swine flu cases world-wide climbed past 10,000 on Wednesday as health chiefs from around the world continued discussions in Geneva on how best to fight the disease. There are now 10,243 people who have been infected with the A/H1N1 flu virus as confirmed by laboratories, said Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization. She said there have been 80 deaths, mostly in Mexico. The 413 newly confirmed cases come mostly from the U.S. and Japan, Ms. Chaib said. Meanwhile, Taiwan health authorities confirmed the island's first case of swine flu. The continued spread of the disease comes as the WHO'S 193 member states are meeting in Geneva to develop plans for treatments, pandemic response and eventually vaccinations to combat the disease as much as possible. The WHO on Tuesday urged drug makers to reserve for poor countries a portion of any pandemic swine-flu vaccine they develop, but received few concrete offers as experts disclosed that an effective flu shot was still months away. Meanwhile, officials in western Japan urged millions of people in two of the country's largest cities to remain calm Wednesday but take precautions to slow an outbreak of swine flu that has already sickened at least 251 people. A health official said a 16-year-old girl in Tokyo was confirmed to have swine flu