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More flu cases in UK and Germany | |
(20 minutes later) | |
Germany has become the third European nation hit by swine flu, confirming it has three cases, while the UK says it has three more cases - five in total. | |
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the new cases - two adults and a 12-year-old girl - were all in England. | |
The German victims include two women, aged 22 and 37, and a man in his 30s. All had recently returned from Mexico. | |
Spain has four cases and several other European countries are investigating suspected infections. | |
So far Mexico and the US are the only countries where victims of the virus have died. The first US death was reported on Wednesday. | |
German authorities say there is no need to panic - and that they have sufficient stocks of anti-flu drugs to protect the population, says the BBC's Tristana Moore in Berlin. | German authorities say there is no need to panic - and that they have sufficient stocks of anti-flu drugs to protect the population, says the BBC's Tristana Moore in Berlin. |
But the country is bracing for more cases and is increasing its watchfulness at airports like Hamburg and Frankfurt. | But the country is bracing for more cases and is increasing its watchfulness at airports like Hamburg and Frankfurt. |
The 22-year-old woman with the virus is from Hamburg, the 37-year-old woman from Kulmbach, and the man is being treated in Regensburg, southern Germany, said the Robert Koch Institute, which specialises in infectious diseases. | The 22-year-old woman with the virus is from Hamburg, the 37-year-old woman from Kulmbach, and the man is being treated in Regensburg, southern Germany, said the Robert Koch Institute, which specialises in infectious diseases. |
Honeymoon couple | Honeymoon couple |
Mr Brown said all three new British cases had mild symptoms and were responding well to treatment. | |
Meanwhile in Scotland a couple have reportedly been quarantined in their own home after becoming the second newly-married couple suspected of picking up the disease on their honeymoon in Mexico. | |
After their return from Cancun, Jenny Marshall fell ill and she and her new husband Pete had been told to stay inside for five days, he told a Scottish newspaper. | After their return from Cancun, Jenny Marshall fell ill and she and her new husband Pete had been told to stay inside for five days, he told a Scottish newspaper. |
Results are expected back on Wednesday from some of the tests being carried out on 23 people across Scotland suspected of being infected. | Results are expected back on Wednesday from some of the tests being carried out on 23 people across Scotland suspected of being infected. |
In Portugal a three-year-old boy who arrived from the United States last week, is the country's first suspected case, local media have reported. | In Portugal a three-year-old boy who arrived from the United States last week, is the country's first suspected case, local media have reported. |
On Tuesday EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said suspected cases were also being investigated in the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Greece and the Czech Republic. | On Tuesday EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said suspected cases were also being investigated in the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Greece and the Czech Republic. |
'Unpredictable' | 'Unpredictable' |
In Geneva, the World Health Organization was holding an emergency review of the swine flu outbreak, and said it might raise its pandemic alert level to phase five - the second highest - if it turned out that the disease was being spread in at least two countries, the Associated Press reported. | In Geneva, the World Health Organization was holding an emergency review of the swine flu outbreak, and said it might raise its pandemic alert level to phase five - the second highest - if it turned out that the disease was being spread in at least two countries, the Associated Press reported. |
Level six is a pandemic. | Level six is a pandemic. |
But senior WHO official Keiji Fukuda said that it could still turn out to be a "very mild pandemic", adding, however, that influenza "moves in ways we cannot predict". | But senior WHO official Keiji Fukuda said that it could still turn out to be a "very mild pandemic", adding, however, that influenza "moves in ways we cannot predict". |