MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

WHO admits swine flu could become pandemic, but world “better prepared”

, World Health Organization Director-General Dr Keiji Fukuda

The international community is better prepared than ever to deal with the threatened spread of a new swine flu virus, the top United Nations health chief has said. As the UN warned the outbreak might become a pandemic, World Health Organization Director-General Dr Keiji Fukuda said years of preparing for bird flu had boosted world stocks of anti-virals.

Canada is the latest country to confirm cases after as many as 81 deaths in Mexico and 20 cases in the US.

Washington has warned the flu may yet claim American lives.

“I do fear that we will have deaths,” Dr Anne Schuchat of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters.

Eight cases have been confirmed among New York students, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.

Several countries in Asia and Latin America have begun screening airport passengers for symptoms.

There is currently no vaccine for the new strain of flu but severe cases can be treated with antiviral medication.

Speaking in Geneva, an expert from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN's health agency, expert said the swine flu virus could be capable of mutating into a more dangerous strain but that more information was needed before raising the WHO's pandemic alert phase.

Only a handful of the Mexican cases have so far been laboratory-confirmed as swine flu, while in the US confirmed cases had only mild symptoms.

WHO is advising all countries to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations - particularly among young healthy adults, a characteristic of past pandemics.

Officials said most of those killed so far in Mexico were young adults - rather than more vulnerable children and the elderly.

H1N1 is the same strain that causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans but the newly detected version contains genetic material from versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds.

It is spread mainly through coughs and sneezes.

The Canadian cases were recorded at opposite ends of the country: two in British Columbia in the west, and four in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia.

Suspected cases have been detected beyond Mexico, the US and Canada

• Ten New Zealand students from a group which visited Mexico have tested positive for Influenza A, making it “likely” they are infected with swine flu

• In France, a top health official told Le Parisien newspaper there were unconfirmed suspicions that two individuals who had just returned from Mexico might be carrying the virus

• Spain's health ministry says three people who returned from a trip from Mexico with flu symptoms are in isolation and being tested

• In Israel, medics are testing a 26-year-old man who has been taken to hospital with flu-like symptoms after returning from a trip to Mexico

• Two people in Queensland, Australia, are being tested in hospital after developing flu-like symptoms on returning from Mexico

Officials in Mexico confirmed that 20 people had died from the virus while another 61 deaths were suspected cases of swine flu.

More than 1,300 people have been admitted to hospital with suspected symptoms since 13 April.

No sports events took place Sunday and schools, universities and even most bars and restaurants will remain closed for several days and though Sunday church services went ahead priests have been asked to place Communion wafers in people's hands rather than on their tongues.

The swine flu could have a devastating effect for the Mexican economy, since tourism its first source of income and this season could persuade many potential visitors to cancel their holidays.

The World Bank is providing Mexico with more than 200 million US dollars in loans to help it deal with the outbreak.

Russia has banned imports of raw pork and pork products from Mexico and the US states of California, Texas and Kansas until further notice as a precaution.

Dr Fukuda said on Sunday there was no proof that eating pork would lead to infection.

“Right now we have no evidence to suggest that people are getting exposed, or getting infected, from exposure to pork or to pigs, and so right now we have zero evidence to suspect that exposure to meat leads to infections,” he said.

The Director-General based on recommendations from WHO’s Emergency Committee meeting over the weekend determined that the current events constitute a “public health emergency of international concern”. However WHO is not recommending any travel or trade restrictions.