The number of confirmed swine flu infections in Mexico rose from 26 to 49, although the number of deaths was still at seven from the new strain of flu, according to laboratory results that Mexico's health authorities made public Wednesday, according to dpa. In total, there have been 159 deaths and 2,498 infections in Mexico's flu epidemic. Of these, 1,311 remained in hospital. But most have not yet been identified as swine flu. Late Tuesday, Mexican authorities corrected the number of people killed by swine flu from its previous total of 20 down to seven, resulting from "refining and analysis" of the data. "In the next 24 hours we will be able to know the results of 150 additional cases, and we will keep studying, with our own laboratory already in place and with the cooperation of the Centers for Disease Control in the United States and of Canada's Health Ministry, all possible cases," Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos said late Tuesday. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 13 confirmed cases in Canada, 64 in the US, 26 in Mexico, two in Israel, four in Spain, two in Britain and three in New Zealand, for a total of 105. Of these, there were seven deaths in Mexico and one in the US. WHO officials said it was probable the director general, Margaret Chan, would call a meeting of the emergency committee of experts later Wednesday. Argentina suspended flights to and from Mexico from Wednesday until at least Monday, as the South American country awaits the laboratory results on three suspected cases of swine flu. Argentina further resolved to increase surveillance of those entering the country. Body temperature sensors, similar to those put into wide use during the 2003 SARS outbreak, were installed at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires - the main gate of entrance to Argentina - and preventive measures were reinforced. Cuba also suspended Tuesday all flights to and from Mexico. The measure was initially to last 48 hours, but it was later extended indefinitely, according to an official statement published Wedjnesday in the Communist Party daily Granma. The Cuban government said earlier Tuesday that no cases of swine flu had been reported in the country and that there were also no suspected cases, although they increased health surveillance at airports and ports.
