Mexico upbeat on battle against deadly flu

MEXICO CITY (AFP) — Mexico was optimistic that the swine flu epidemic was coming under control as it tried to mitigate the economic fallout, joining Canada and the United States in hitting out at pork boycotts.
Authorities in Mexico, at the epicentre of the H1N1 flu outbreak, said the national death toll had reached 19, as health officials around the world remained on high alert with more cases confirmed.
But Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said "each day we're seeing fewer serious cases."
He said: "The mortality rate is dropping," adding that there were "enough elements to say that we are in a stabilisation phase."
Just days earlier, the Mexican government had spoken of 159 "probable" deaths from the new variant of swine flu, which was shown to be spread by human-to-human contact.
But stringent tests by US and Canadian labs on the mountain of "probable" cases excluded most of them, and left the much smaller confirmed toll.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said 16 countries have officially reported 658 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.
In Geneva, a WHO official indicated the virus had not spread in a sustained way outside of the Americas, a condition necessary to declare a full global pandemic.
"We see no evidence of sustained community spread outside North America," said Mike Ryan, WHO Director of Global Alert and Response.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 160 confirmed cases across 21 states and said additional cases and perhaps even deaths could follow.
Authorities in New York said the city may have seen more than 1,000 cases, but carriers were likely recovering or recovered.
In Canada, some 30 new cases were reported on Saturday, bringing the total number of people infected throughout the country to more than 85.
Officials also confirmed H1N1 cases had been detected in a pig herd in Alberta, likely contracted from a man who recently returned from Mexico.
The three North American nations tried to mitigate the economic impact of the crisis, hitting out at countries which had slapped bans on their pork products.
"We strongly urge the international community not to use the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza as a reason to create unnecessary trade restrictions and that decisions be made based on sound scientific evidence," the countries said in a joint statement.
Nearly 20 nations, including China and Russia, have imposed bans on the importation of pigs and pork products from Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Mexico also hit out at China, which it said had slapped "unjustified" health measures on Mexicans arriving in the country. link...