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Swine flu cases cross 10,000

Crisis in Asia, US deepens

AFP, Geneva
The number of worldwide swine flu infections surged past the 10,000 mark yesterday as the crisis escalated in the United States and Asia despite stringent government efforts to contain the virus.
The number of confirmed swine flu cases now stands at 10,243 in 40 different countries, said a spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation. The number of dead stands at 80, spokeswoman Fadela Chaib added.
"There is an increase of 413 cases in the past 24 hours, with most in the United States with 346 new cases... and in Japan there are51 new cases," Chaib told journalists.
The increase in the United States raised the total there to 5,469 cases in 47 states plus Washington's District of Columbia.
The number of confirmed A(H INI) infections in Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, rose by almost 100 in 24 hours to 3,660, health authorities said as they also announced four new deaths. Local officials say 76 people have died in Mexico, although not all of these deaths have been registered by the WHO.
And as dozens more cases were reported in Japan, Taiwan became the latest Asian government to record a case of the virusFROM PAGE 16
on its soil -- in an Australian doctor who arrived by plane from Hong Kong earlier in the week
Australia itself reported four new cases, including three young brothers, raising the overall number of confirmed infections to five.
Victoria state health authorities quarantined the family, along with some of the boys' classmates.
The mounting crisis has overshadowed proceedings at the WHO's ongoing annual assembly where UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged people to remain vigilant as previous pandemics had shown flu outbreaks could start mild and worsen.
The WHO has already raised its alert level to five out of a sliding scale of six, indicating dial a full-fledged pandemic is imminent.
THe top level would indicate sustained community transmission in a second region outside the Americas and the escalating number of cases in Asia has increased the prospects of the red alert being sounded.
Governments in Asia, where memories of the bird flu crisis remain raw, have been swift to quarantine both locals and foreigners in a bid to stop swine flu in its tracks.
But a group of some 20 foreign tourists held in Tibet over fears an Italian woman with them had swine flu were released Wednesday after tests showed she was suffering from common influenza. Chinese officials said.
Meanwhile Egyptian Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali warned of the dangers posed by swine flu to millions of Muslim pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia.
Gabali told the independent daily Al-Masri Al-Yom that "there is a large possibility" the A(H 1N1) virus may reach Egypt with returning pilgrims.
While he could not bar Egypt's estimated 600,000 pilgrims from travelling as such a decision was up to clerics, Gabali said he could "open quarantines and say: no one will return from Saudi Arabia to hishome."
The senior Muslim cleric in the Gulf emirate of Dubai has ■ already published a fatwa,-irreligious decree, calling on the faithful to delay any pligrimages to Mecca for the time being.