Swine flu: How the virus is spreading

The UK is on swine flu alert, with travel advice to Mexico and the US changed. The European Union's health commissioner Andorra Vassiliou warned national Governments to reassess their travel advice. He said non-essential travel to the United States or Mexico should be postponed. The comments came as officials in Spain confirmed Europe's first case of swine flu. The man, who had recently been in Mexico is said to be responding well to treatment and was not in a serious condition. In Britain, two people are still undergoing tests in Lanarkshire after returning from Mexico with mild flu-like symptoms. The disease has claimed 103 lives in Mexico with as many as 1,600 carrying the virus. Cases have been confirmed in countries including the US, Spain, New Zealand, Canada. Passengers returning to Heathrow from Mexico City are being kept aboard their planes while health officials ask them if they feel unwell and assess anyone's symptoms and travel history. A Department of Health spokeswoman said the outbreak was "unusual and of concern". She said surveillance arrangements in the UK were being "stepped up" but added: "It is too early to make a complete assessment of the health implications of this new virus or if it could represent the appearance of a potential pandemic strain of influenza virus." The Government said it has enough medicine to treat half the population. The NHS has a stockpile of more than £500 million worth of the Tamiflu anti-viral drug which has proved effective on patients in Mexico, and scientists are working on developing a vaccine against the new strain. Under the civil contingencies committee system - known as Cobra - cross-departmental representatives met to plan how to deal with any outbreak. As the World Bank provided Mexico with more than £136 million in loans to help it deal with the outbreak, the World Health Organisation warned countries around the world to look out for unusual flu cases as the virus spread from the central American country. WHO director-general Margaret Chan said the outbreak, caused when the H1N1 strain associated with pigs crossed over to the human population, constituted a "public health emergency of international concern". Nations will be expected to step up reporting and surveillance of the contagious respiratory disease, which she said had "pandemic potential".

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ITN | April 27, 2009

Tags:. .tamiflu. .spain. .population. .vaccine. .essential