Honduras, Iceland and Kuwait have become the latest countries to confirm cases of swine flu, the WHO said yesterday.
The organization says 46 countries have now reported a total of 12,515 cases and 91 deaths. About half of all cases are in the US, where a woman in her 50s died this weekend in New York, becoming the city’s second fatal swine flu victim and the country’s 10th.
New York City Health Department spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti said the woman had “underlying health conditions,” as did the city’s first victim, an assistant school principal.
WHO says Honduras and Iceland each have one case. Kuwait’s 18 cases have been reported on a US military base.
Mexico has reported 282 new cases and five deaths since Saturday, the WHO said.
Schools in western Japan reopened yesterday as the number of new A(H1N1) infections leveled off but China, Australia and South Korea announced a rise in their numbers of confirmed cases.
Japan’s Health Ministry had confirmed 343 cases of the new flu on Sunday.
Chinese health authorities confirmed two cases of A(H1N1) infection on Sunday and two yesterday, bringing the total confirmed infections to 11.
South Korea said its number of confirmed flu cases rose sharply over the weekend to 22, when a 23-year-old American woman, who flew from San Francisco to teach English, was confirmed with the virus. Fourteen others who were in contact with her were also confirmed with the virus.
Australia also announced a jump in numbers to 17 after a woman from Brisbane tested positive upon her return from the US.
Meanwhile, Philippine authorities are tracking down 50 people who attended a wedding in Zambales Province two weeks ago with a Taiwanese woman and her daughter, who later developed the flu.
RSS