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'Swine flu' kills 60 in Mexico Mexico flu outbreak kills dozens
(about 1 hour later)
The World Health Organization says it suspects swine flu has killed 60 people and infected 800 others in Mexico. Dozens of people have died and hundreds of others have been infected in a viral outbreak in Mexico suspected to have been caused by a strain of swine flu.
A WHO spokeswoman said the majority of the cases were in the capital, Mexico City, and a small number in central areas of the country. The WHO says it believes the virus is behind 60 deaths, mostly in and around the capital since mid-March.
Mexican authorities have closed schools in affected areas and a vaccination campaign is being launched.
Seven non-fatal cases of a new form of swine flu have also been confirmed in the southern United States.Seven non-fatal cases of a new form of swine flu have also been confirmed in the southern United States.
Experts will carry out tests to determine whether the viruses behind the outbreaks are linked. Experts will carry out tests to determine if the two viruses are linked.
The WHO has opened its strategic health operations centre, which operates during periods of acute public health risks. 'Mutated from pigs'
'Flu-like illness' WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said "unusual end of season influenza activity" was noticed in Mexico starting from the end of March.
WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said "unusual end-of-season influenza activity" was noticed in Mexico starting from the end of March. Fifty-seven people had died in Mexico City from flu-like symptoms, she said, and another three in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico. There are around 800 suspected cases, she said.
"To date there have been some 800 suspected cases with flu-like illness, with 57 deaths in the Mexico City area," she said. The Mexican government said swine flu had been confirmed in at least 16 deaths, and there were dozens of other suspected deaths.
Three more deaths and 24 suspected cases were also recorded in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico, she said. Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the virus "mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans".
"We're dealing with a new flu virus that constitutes a respiratory epidemic that so far is controllable," Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said on Thursday. It is not yet clear whether it is the same virus that left seven people sick in the US states of Texas and California.
The Mexican authorities are currently conducting tests to determine what the virus is. Schools have been closed in affected areas and people urged to avoid large crowds, shaking hands and kissing. US experts say they were suffering from a new form of swine flu that combined pig, bird and human viruses.
In the US, experts are investigating a new form of swine flu that they say combines pig, bird and human viruses, after seven people fell ill in Texas and California.
"This is the first time that we've seen an avian strain, two swine strains and a human strain," Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told AFP."This is the first time that we've seen an avian strain, two swine strains and a human strain," Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told AFP.
The CDC said none of the seven victims had been in contact with pigs, which is how people usually catch swine flu.The CDC said none of the seven victims had been in contact with pigs, which is how people usually catch swine flu.
It was tracking those who had been in contact with the seven to see if they had fallen ill, it said. It was tracking those who had been in contact with the seven to see if the were ill, it said. All seven had made a full recovery.