WHO Raises Global Swine Flu Tally

The WHO has added 439 new cases of swine flu to its global tally, raising its total of confirmed cases to 12,954. The agency also raised the overall death toll by one to 92.

The WHO said yesterday 46 countries had reported laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus. About half of all cases were in the US.

Authorities in Mexico announced three more swine flu deaths and the US and Canada one more death each. Puerto Rico and the Czech Republic confirmed their first cases of swine flu on Monday but were not yet included in the WHO tally.

Meanwhile, the world’s largest vaccine maker signed a deal with the US to produce a swine flu vaccine.

Sanofi Pasteur said it had won a US$190 million order from the US government to make a swine flu vaccine. The company, which operates flu vaccine production plants in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, and Val de Reuil, France, said it was also talking to other governments about their vaccine needs.

The company is awaiting a seed virus to be used in vaccine production from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and could begin commercial production next month.

In the US, federal health authorities have confirmed 6,700 swine flu cases, most of them mild. But New York health officials reported another death over the weekend.

Damon Arnold, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health said the latest victim, a Chicago-area resident, had other medical conditions, but authorities released no other information about the person.

In Canada, officials said on Monday that a Toronto man who had swine flu but also suffered a chronic medical condition died on Saturday.

Mexico’s Health Ministry on Monday confirmed a rise in the country’s flu deaths to 83, with more than 4,458 confirmed infections from the virus.

Honduras, Iceland and Kuwait meanwhile reported infections to the WHO for the first time, with Honduras and Iceland posting a case each and Kuwait reporting 18 cases in US soldiers who had since left the country.

In Hong Kong, officials confirmed two new cases of swine flu in young children who arrived on a flight from New York on Sunday, raising the city’s total number of cases to nine.

Also stemming from a New York infection, the Czech Republic registered its first swine flu case involving an adult male from Prague who recently came back from the US city.

Worldwide, fears grew while attempts to contain the disease continued. Japanese shops ran out of face masks amid the outbreak as local authorities and bloggers offered tips on making homemade masks from kitchen paper, coffee filters and even sanitary pads.

The western city of Tatsuno posted handy hints on its official Web site on fashioning a basic anti-flu mask from gauze, tissue and a pair of rubber bands.

Latin America saw most of the new swine flu cases on Monday, as Ecuador’s infected tally rose to 24 over the weekend after officials reported 10 on Friday. Peru raised its confirmed swine flu cases by two to 27.

In China, authorities confirmed two more cases of the swine flu in a 19-year-old man in Zhejiang Province and in a 30-year-old Shanghai man.

In South Korea, the 22nd confirmed case of swine flu followed a sharp weekend rise in reported infections.