Key developments on swine flu outbreaks, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and government officials:
_Deaths: Global total of 61 — 56 in Mexico; three in U.S.; one in Canada and one in Costa Rica. Officials said the Canadian, U.S. and Costa Rican victims also had other medical conditions. _Confirmed cases, according to WHO: More than 5,250 cases in 30 countries, including at least 2,059 in Mexico, 2,600 in the United States and 330 in Canada. The WHO total does not include confirmed cases just reported in Finland, Thailand and Cuba. _Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche Holding AG says it's donating enough Tamiflu to WHO to treat 5.65 million people. Tamiflu is one of two anti-viral drugs effective against swine flu. _China says it has tracked down and quarantined most passengers who were on flights with the mainland's first confirmed case. The man is a Chinese graduate student at the University of Missouri and became ill while returning to China. _A study published in the journal Science estimates Mexico may actually have had 6,000 to 32,000 cases. It also estimated Mexico may have had 23,000 cases by April 23, the day it announced the epidemic. The study estimates that between 0.4 percent and 1.4 percent of swine flu cases are fatal. _WHO says up to 2 billion people could be infected if outbreak eventually turns into pandemic. But WHO flu chief Keiji Fukuda says it's too early to tell how widespread or severe the outbreak will become. -- Posted By Breaking News to BN at 5/12/2009 06:11:00 PM
