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Global panic as swine flu spreads to Europe

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-27 21:45

MEXICO CITY – The rising death toll from the Mexican swine flu epidemic sent a wave of alarm around the world on Monday with the United States declaring a public health emergency and Europe's first confirmed case reported in Spain.

People wear surgical face masks as they attend a mass at Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral April 26, 2009. Fears of a global swine flu pandemic grew with new infections in the United States and Canada on Sunday, and millions of Mexicans hid indoors to avoid a virus that has already killed up to 103 people.  [Agencies]

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the number of confirmed and suspected deaths in Mexico had hit 103, while the number of suspected cases has reached 1,614, up from 1,324.

Full coverage:  Swine Flu Outbreak Related readings:  Poland has sufficient drugs against swine flu  Spain confirms first case of swine flu  Panic in Mexico, US as killer swine flu fears spread  Second suspected case of swine flu reported in Israel

President Felipe Calderon called for calm but news that a man in Spain had brought the flu back from Mexico heightened the international alert and stock markets blamed the disease for a new share battering.

China, Thailand and Indonesia joined Russia in banning meat imports from Mexico and the five US states where 20 swine flu cases have been confirmed.

The European Union called an extraordinary meeting of health ministers, and governments put strict security around flights from Mexico, taking any suspected cases into quarantine.

The World Health Organisation has warned that the swine flu strain -- apparently born out of a mix of human and avian flu viruses that infected pigs -- could become a pandemic and called for all nations to "intensify surveillance".

The viruses can be spread through coughs and sneezes. Victims report fevers, coughs and headaches.

Mexico City's streets were deserted after its 20 million residents were ordered to avoid crowds, and a football game at the 105,000-seat Aztec stadium was played behind on Sunday.

Residents donned blue face masks and stocked up on food and water in anticipation of a long lockdown as Calderon urged Mexicans to "move fast, but to maintain calm and cooperate with the authorities."

The only confirmed cases outside Mexico are the 20 in the United States, six in Canada and now one in Spain.

The United States will screen visitors arriving from infected areas, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, announcing a public health emergency order.

Richard Besser, acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there were eight confirmed cases in New York City, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.

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