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British flu death marks first fatality outside Americas
London (AFP) June 14, 2009 British authorities confirmed Sunday the first swine flu death outside the Americas, marking a new stage in the spread of the virus which has infected almost 30,000 people worldwide. Three days after the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic, the government in Scotland said an infected patient who also had "underlying health conditions" had died in hospital. All previous deaths from A(H1N1) virus, which was first detected in Mexico in April, had been in the Americas, according to WHO figures released Friday. Canadian health authorities meanwhile confirmed their sixth death from a patient with the virus. Officials said the woman, who was in her fifties, had also suffered from "a chronic disease." The Scottish patient is thought to be one of 10 people hospitalised with the virus across the country, out of a total 498 confirmed cases there. Across Britain as a whole, a total of 1,226 have been infected. "With regret, we can confirm that one of the patients who had been in hospital, and had been confirmed as suffering from the H1N1 virus, has died today," the Scottish government said in a short statement. "The patient had underlying health conditions." A spokesman refused to confirm the patient's gender or age and said that, at the request of the family, no further details would be released Sunday. Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon offered her condolences to the patient's family and sought to alleviate public concern. "Tragic though today's death is, I would like to emphasise that the vast majority of those who have H1N1 are suffering from relatively mild symptoms," she said in a statement, adding: "The risk to the general public remains low." The WHO raised its global alert to a maximum six on Thursday, saying swine flu had reached pandemic status because of its geographical spread. It has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries, according to the latest WHO figures, which also put the death toll at 145. In Australia, the government said Sunday it was ready to ratchet up its swine flu alert as the national tally hit 1,458 cases. It is the worst-hit Asia-Pacific country with the fifth highest number of cases worldwide. Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the whole country would soon move to the "sustain" phase in line with hotspot state Victoria. This phase, Australia's second-highest, gives authorities the power to cancel sports events, close schools and restrict travel, although officials say extreme measures such as closing national borders are unlikely. "As the numbers gradually increase in jurisdictions there will be steps over the coming days to move to a consistent alert level," Roxon said. Saudi Arabia meanwhile reported three new cases of swine flu, taking to 12 the number of infections since the virus appeared in the kingdom 11 days ago. Junior health minister Khalid al-Zahrani said the ministry was shoring up health care services and monitoring for the virus as it sought to guard against the pandemic's spread during pilgrimages to Muslim holy sites. But the kingdom would not restrict entry to pilgrims because of the threat, the official SPA news agency reported. As well as the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which all Muslims are required to make once in a lifetime if they can, the faithful can also make a lesser pilgrimage to the holy places, known as omra, at any time of the year. Near the southwestern French city of Toulouse, health authorities confirmed seven cases of swine flu in a group of children from the same school in an outbreak that did not appear to have been brought in from abroad. "The unique thing about this situation is that these cases are not linked to a trip abroad. The virus is present in our country," said Anne-Gaelle Baudouin-Clerc, chief of staff to the prefect of the Haute Garonne region. Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva urged the country not to panic after health authorities reported 150 confirmed cases of the virus Sunday -- almost 10 times the tally just three days earlier. "People should not panic. The death ratio for the new flu is probably lower than normal flu," Abhisit said. burs-ar/lth Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Australia plays down flu fears as pandemic declaredSydney (AFP) June 12, 2009 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd played down the threat from swine flu on Friday, as the country left its alert level unchanged despite the announcement of the first global pandemic in 40 years. Rudd stressed that Australia was ready to tackle the A(H1N1) influenza virus, which has infected 1,307 people here including top sports stars and left four people in intensive care. Hours ... read more |
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