A spreading lethal virus that has claimed 68 lives in Mexico and infected at least 11 people in the United States prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to send out a global alarm Saturday, DPA reported. WHO officials raised the possibility of an emerging pandemic even as countries in the region, including Nicaragua, Colombia and Brazil, tightened airport controls over people and goods arriving from Mexico. Mexico City has closed schools, museums and other public gathering places and the Mexican Army has been distributing face masks to the population. President Felipe Calderon authorized the secretary of health to isolate patients, inspect travelers and enter houses to fight the epidemic.
