WHO ups flu alert level, warns no region safe

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MEXICO CITY, April 28 (AFP): World health officials stepped up warnings of a possible pandemic of swine flu as governments released millions of antiviral drugs and the number of cases rose, spreading into Europe.
With the likely death toll in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, now standing at 152, the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised its flu pandemic alert level from three to four.
While the increase marked a "significant step towards pandemic influenza, it's also a phase which says we are not there yet," said Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO assistant-general for health, security and the environment.
Fukuda warned "that in this age of global travel where people move around in airplanes so quickly, there is no region to which this virus could not spread."
Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the number of probable deaths from swine flu rose Monday to 152 from 149.
Cordova also signalled for the first time that the epidemic may be abating: the number of suspected flu deaths had gone from six Saturday to five Sunday and to three Monday, he said.
Cordova cautioned that the cause of the latest deaths had not been confirmed, but that they could be taken as a reference point.
Officials have confirmed 20 people died from the disease, while the number of cases under observation in Mexico has reached 1,614.
Faster and more effective laboratory tests for the flu were to begin Tuesday, Cordova said.
Despite measures to contain the virus and increasing warnings for visitors to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico, Cordova later insisted that Mexico could maintain business and tourist relations with the rest of the world.
The number of confirmed cases in the United States more than doubled Monday to 44 and Britain and Spain both said they had registered patients sick with swine flu, the first cases in Europe.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the new multi-strain virus, which is believed to be a mix of a human flu virus and an avian flu that first came from swine, risked triggering a global pandemic.
Europe's first confirmed case was reported in Spain, where 26 suspected cases were being probed, while two people were found to have the disease in Britain and dozens more potential cases were being checked in seven European Union member states.
Fears the disease could further strain the already-embattled global economy gave stock markets the jitters, leading to falls in Europe and Asia, while trading on Wall Street was muted.
And oil prices fell sharply on fears the escalating outbreak could further dampen economic activity and impact energy demand.
Although the US government has declared a public health emergency with 44 cases in five states, President Barack Obama urged calm.
The swine flu outbreak "requires a heightened state of alert, but it is not a cause for alarm," he told a gathering of the National Academy of Sciences.
The European Union called emergency talks of health ministers and advised against non-essential travel to areas where the virus has surfaced.
Asia tightened its already strict measures to keep swine flu from spreading across the region Tuesday.
Thermal scanners have been a common feature in many Asian airports since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2003.
Japan went one step further, saying it would temporarily tighten visa restrictions for Mexican nationals as part of efforts to stop the virus entering the country and urged Japanese citizens in Mexico to return home.
Hong Kong, which was at the forefront of the SARS epidemic in 2003 and has since been on alert for bird flu, has already issued similar guidelines allowing for arrivals to be detained, as has Australia.