The World Health Organization updated Today the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of swine influenza to 257, including eight deaths, dpa reported. The largest spike came from Mexico, where the number jumped from 26 cases to 97, including seven deaths. In the United States, across ten states, there were 109 cases including one death of a toddler in Texas. A spokesman for the agency also said it would cease use of the word "swine" and stick with the scientific title of a new variant of influenza A(H1N1), in light of complaints from the pork industry. The spread of the virus is believed to be in the form of human-to-human transmission and not from pigs or pork. In spite of moves by states to ban imports of pork from affected countries, the WHO has insisted eating properly prepared pig flesh was not a danger. Late Wednesday the health agency had raised its pandemic influenza alert to Phase 5, just one below the highest, in light of evidence showing sustained human-to-human transmission in communities in the United States and Mexico. The WHO has not ruled out that it will raise the level once more, but said while the disease was spreading, it had not yet pinned down the nature of the virus. It caused mild disease in most cases but had also shown itself to be fatal. "No move to phase 6 is imminent right now," said Keiji Fukuda, the health security chief of the WHO. There is "nothing that epidemiologically suggests to us today that we should be moving towards phase 6." Canada had 19 cases in four provinces. Spain had 13 confirmed cases, including one case of community spread, with the rest in people who returned from Mexico, where the outbreak is believed to have started. Other countries with confirmed cases included New Zealand, Germany, Israel and Austria. Countries were reporting some higher numbers while others, not on the WHO list yet, including Switzerland, the host country of the WHO, said they had confirmed cases.
