Thousands rush to leave Mexico

SBS's News Presenter Janice Petersen, who was holidaying in Mexico when the swine flu struck, says thousands of other people are trying to leave the country.

The number of confirmed cases in the United States doubled to 40 and Britain and Spain recorded their first swine flu victims, while the likely Mexican death toll leapt to 152.

South Korea also confirmed its first case ofthe deadly human swine flu, a Yonhap news report said, quoting an unnamed official.

*WHO raises pandemic alert level from three to four

*US flu cases leap to 40 as Obama urges calm

*Europe's first case of swine flu reported in Spain, Britain

*Two cases of swine flu confirmed also in Scotland

Fears of pandemic flu

Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO assistant-general for health, security and the environment, told journalists that while the hike is a "significant step towards pandemic influenza, it's also a phase which says we are not there yet."

Experts met earlier Monday to decide if the WHO should raise the alert level as the probable death toll from the virus rose to 152 in Mexico.

Fukuda said that experts also recommended during the meeting that the virus is currently too "widespread to make containment a feasible" strategy. As a result, "focusing on mitigation is really an important focus" for countries dealing with the disease, he said.

Fukuda also stressed that experts did not recommend closing borders or restricting travel. "With the virus being widespread... closing borders or restricting travel really has very little effects in stopping the movement of this virus," he said.

Influenza caused three epidemics during the 20th century, the worst being the Spanish flu between 1918 and 1919 which killed at least 40 million people, according to WHO.

People urged not to travel to Mexico

Mexico, which was rocked by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake on Monday, said the number of confirmed and suspected deaths from the flu had now risen as other countries urged against non-essential travel to the tourism hotspot.

More than 1,600 people are believed to have been sickened by the disease.

First case reported in Spain

Europe's first confirmed case was reported in Spain, while two people were found to be ill with the disease in Britain and dozens more suspected cases were being checked in seven EU states.

US swine flu cases leap to 40

Although the United States government has declared a public health emergency with 40 cases in five states, US President Barack Obama urged people to stay calm.

The swine flu outbreak "requires a heightened state of alert, but it is not a cause for alarm," he told a gathering of the National Academy of Sciences.

Richard Besser, acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the affected states of New York, Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California and others were receiving 11 million courses of antiviral drugs.

"Of the 40 cases, we are only aware of one individual who was hospitalised, and all people who have been infected and were sick have recovered," Besser said, adding that those affected ranged from seven to 54 years old.

"So the good news is we haven't identified it in additional states. But I wouldn't put too much on that," Besser said, stressing that further nationwide testing would likely unearth more cases in the next week.

"This virus is acting like a flu virus, and flu viruses spread from person to person." Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said it was ready to send out more stocks of Tamiflu, some 220 million doses of which are in the hands of governments worldwide.

British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline also said it was "urgently" investigating how to boost production of its antiviral drug Relenza, as a race to develop a direct vaccine for H1N1 strain gathered pace.

UN warns of risks of global pandemic

UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the new multi-strain virus risked triggering a global pandemic.

"We are concerned that this virus could cause a new influenza pandemic. It could be mild in its effect or potentially be severe," Ban told reporters.

"We don't know yet which way it will go but we are concerned that in Mexico most of those who died were young and healthy adults."

EU calls emergency meeting

The European Union called an emergency meeting of health ministers and advised against non-essential travel to areas where the deadly virus has surfaced.

The US was also to issue an advisory warning against "non-essential travel" to Mexico.

But Besser rejected an EU warning that appeared to call on Europeans to avoid travel to the United States and Mexico.

"Based on the situation in the United States right now, I think it's quite premature to put travel restrictions on people coming to the United States," he said.

Spain is watching 20 suspected cases and Britain 17 while there were five suspicious cases in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, plus four in France and one in Italy.

Nine people each in New Zealand and Colombia, plus one each in Brazil and Peru were under observation with flu symptoms, while in the Middle East, a 26-year-old Israeli was also hospitalised.

The WHO has warned that the swine flu strain -- apparently born out of a mix of human and avian flu viruses that infected pigs -- could become a pandemic and called for all nations to "intensify surveillance."

The virus particles can be spread through coughs and sneezes. Victims report fevers, coughs and headaches.

The outbreak of swine flu spread fear of economic contagion through financial markets and the travel sector, with losses in European and Asian markets attributed in part to fears of swine flu.

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