CANCUN, Mexico – Swine flu is running wild in the Southern Hemisphere and spreading rapidly through Europe. The virus is even showing signs of rebounding in Mexico.

Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, and health ministers from around the globe huddled Thursday in Cancún to design strategies for battling the pandemic. Nations attending include the United States, Canada, China, Britain and Brazil.

"As we see today, with well over 100 countries reporting cases, once a fully fit pandemic virus emerges, its further international spread is unstoppable," Chan said.

Mexican officials wanted the meeting held in the Caribbean resort city of Cancún to highlight the country's success in controlling its epidemic with a five-day shutdown of schools and businesses in May.

The measures were applauded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and international health officials.

"Our presence here is an expression of confidence," Chan said.

But Mexico is starting to see an increase in swine flu cases in isolated areas. Mexico, the hardest-hit country, has confirmed 10,687 cases to date, including 119 deaths.

Worldwide, there have been more than 77,000 confirmed cases and 332 deaths as of Wednesday, according to the WHO.

The Associated Press

Print

Create A Screen Name

Screen names can only consist of letters and numbers.
Your screen name will appear to everyone.
NOTE: You cannot change, delete,
or edit your screen name once you hit "Save".

---

Leave Comment

Having problems seeing comments?

Close

Supported Browsers

• Internet Explorer 7+
• FireFox 3+
• Safari

If you are using Internet Explorer 7, make sure Phishing Filter is turned off by going to Tools / Phishing Filter / Turn Off Automatic Website Checking.

If you are using Internet Explorer 8, make sure InPrivate Filtering is turned off and InPrivate Filtering data has been cleared. To turn off InPrivate Filtering go to Tools / InPrivate Filtering Settings, select the "off" button and click "OK".

To clear InPrivate Filtering data

• Go to Tools / Internet Options
• Click on the "Delete" button in the center of the General tab.
• Make sure "Preserve Favorites website data" is unchecked.
• Make sure "InPrivate Filtering data" is checked
• Click the "Delete" button.
• Click the "OK" button to exit the internet options window.
• Refresh the page

Guidelines: We welcome your thoughts, but for the sake of all readers, please refrain from the use of obscenities, personal attacks or racial slurs. All comments are subject to our terms of service and may be removed. Repeat offenders may lose commenting privileges.

You must be logged in to contribute. Log in | Register Now!

You are logged in as screenname | Log Out

You are logged in, but do not have a "screen" name. Create a Screen Name