A couple wearing masks share a kiss at the Historic Center in Mexico City on Saturday in an apparent bid to avoid passing on the deadly swine flu virus that has killed at least 81 people in Mexico.[Agencies]

Though no infection has been reported in China, the Ministry of Health has organized experts to study the virus and promised to monitor the situation more closely.

"We will intensify communication with the World Health Organization and the US and Mexican governments to exchange news about the latest developments," it said on its website on Saturday.

China imports thousands of tons of pork from the European Union and the US - in fact it imported 10,500 tons in January - but it is not known whether Mexico is among the supplier countries.

Despite experiencing the horrors of SARS, which killed 800 people in 2003, and the fear that the swine flu could spread fast, Chinese people in general have maintained calm.

"I've heard about the swine flu but I won't stop eating pork because I believe the quality watchdog will ensure our safety," Liang Zhihong, an auditor with accounting firm KPMG, said in Beijing yesterday.

Some people like Cai Yiran, a 41-year-old policewoman, said they would stop eating pork only if an infection is reported in China.

US scientists have said that existing vaccines cannot be used as preventive medicines against the flu.

Wang Jing, of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, however, said people could prevent the disease from spreading if they washed their hands properly after attending to every chore, avoided contact with live pigs and maintained proper ventilation at home and workplace.

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