Over 9,700 cases of the new influenza A(H1N1) virus have been reported worldwide as of Tuesday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said. The agency tallied 9,798 global cases, including 265 in Europe, with Greece on Monday becoming the 17th European country to report its first case. Spain and Britain each had the highest number of confirmed infections in Europe, with 103 and 102 cases, respectively, according to a report of DPA. The United States reported 5,123 cases, the ECDC reported. US authorities began to include probable cases in their figures last Thursday. Mexico had 3,648 cases and Canada had 496, while in Panama there were 59 cases. Colombia had 11, Costa Rica had nine, Brazil eight, El Salvador and Chile had four, while Cuba had three cases, according to the ECDC. In the Asia and Pacific region, Japan had 129 infections that were "mainly associated with schools," the ECDC said, adding that assessments of these cases were underway. The influenza has claimed 79 lives to date, 72 of those in Mexico, five in the US, and one each in Canada and Costa Rica, the ECDC said. The ECDC, with headquarters in Sweden, began operations in 2005. It covers the European Union, as well as several European countries that are not EU members.
