Developments

Developments

Swine flu worldwide

Key developments on swine flu outbreaks, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and government officials:

Deaths: 19 confirmed in Mexico and one confirmed in U.S., a toddler from Mexico who died in Texas.

Confirmed sickened worldwide, 938: 506 in Mexico; 245 in U.S.; 101 in Canada; 40 in Spain; 18 in Britain; eight in Germany; four in New Zealand; two in Italy, France, Israel, and South Korea; one each in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong, Denmark and the Netherlands.

U.S. confirmed cases from CDC or states: New York 63; Texas 43; California 29; Arizona 18; South Carolina 15; Delaware 10; Louisiana, seven; Massachusetts seven; New Jersey seven; Colorado four; Florida three; Indiana three; Illinois three; Ohio three; Oregon three; Virginia three; Wisconsin three; Connecticut two; Kansas two; Michigan two; and one each in Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Idaho and Utah.

More U.S. school closings announced, including all 24 schools in a district west of Detroit after a high school student came down with an apparent case of the illness.

The New Mexico Activities Association’s board of directors suspended all athletic and activity programs for all member schools until further notice.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about a third of confirmed U.S. cases are people who had been to Mexico and likely picked up the infection there.

Hong Kong, where severe acute respiratory syndrome killed 299 in 2003, ordered weeklong quarantine of downtown hotel where a Mexican tourist was confirmed to have the illness, trapping 350 guests and employees inside.

Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa complained that China had isolated several Mexicans without reason — and urged Mexicans not to travel to China until the situation was resolved.

Mexican officials will decide today whether to allow schools and businesses to reopen on Wednesday.

World Health Organization said slaughtering pigs unnecessary because virus is being spread through humans, and it says a swine herd in Canada likely was infected by a farmworker who returned from Mexico.

U.S. Meat Export Federation, which represents pork and beef interests abroad, estimates that U.S. pork exports have dropped about 10 percent since the swine flu scare started.

Associated Press