Australia’s swine flu cases increased to 16 after new infections were confirmed in Victoria state, while South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong also added to their tolls.
Two more people were diagnosed with the virus in Victoria, Australia, the Herald Sun newspaper reported, citing state Health Minister Daniel Andrews. South Korea confirmed four more swine flu cases, increasing its total to 10; Hong Kong’s government confirmed two more cases, bringing the total number of infections in the city to six and Japan confirmed a new case in the city of Osaka.
Confirmed swine flu cases globally total 12,022 in 43 countries, with 86 people killed by the virus, the WHO’s latest tally showed. Still, the WHO said on Friday that the virus would need to be global and show significant harm to people before declaring a pandemic.
The Philippines yesterday reported the nation’s second confirmed case of swine flu in a 50-year-old woman who arrived in the country on May 20 from the US, Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a statement on the ministry’s Web site.
Five US citizens and a Vietnamese citizen are among the confirmed cases in South Korea, with the others being South Korean, the nation’s health ministry said. There are three probable cases among passengers who arrived in Incheoen International Airport yesterday via an Asian Airlines Inc flight, it said.
Singapore had two additional swine flu cases for investigation, the city-state’s health ministry said on its Web site yesterday. Of the 42 cases investigated so far, 34 cases have tested negative for swine flu and eight tested positive for the typical seasonal flu strains, the health ministry said.
China had eight confirmed cases of the A(H1N1) flu virus, a statement on the health ministry Web site said.
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