Monday, April 27, 2009

Mexico Travel Warning As Europe Confirms Flu

April 27, 2009

People have been urged not to travel to Mexico as senior officials hold emergency talks over the deadly outbreak of swine flu.

The European Union's health commissioner, Andorra Vassiliou, advised people to postpone their travel plans unless "it is very urgent for them".

It came as Spain announced Europe's first confirmed case of the virus and Sky sources revealed a Canadian woman in the UK is also suspected of infection.

Spanish officials said a young man who returned from a trip to Mexico last week was found to have the virus.

The unnamed man returned to Spain on April 22 and was put under observation on April 25 with chest problems, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez said.

Around 20 other patients are under observation, officials added.

"They are all stable, none of the cases is grave, not even that of the case confirmed (as swine flu)," Ms Jimenez said.

"These are people who have recently been on trips to Mexico," she said, adding that Spain had sufficient doses stored of antiviral medicine.

Governments around the world are moving to contain the outbreak amid growing fears of pandemic.

The number believed to be infected in Mexico topped 1,600 as the death toll in the country reached 103.

Cases have been confirmed in the United States and Canada.

In Hong Kong, a woman was being tested for the virus as two others were declared free of infection, a health official said.

Possible cases were also reported as far afield as Israel and New Zealand.

Fearing another setback for the fragile world economy, markets reacted nervously to the outbreak, which has prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to activate its 24-hour "war room" command centre.

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