Swine fever: first death recorded outside Mexico

The first known death outside Mexico from the swine fever virus has been reported today. A 23-month-old child in Texas has died, according to health officials in Washington DC who had been warning that, before long, the virus would probably claim lives in the US.

The baby's death was confirmed by Dr Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 91 confirmed cases under investigation across the nation, the United States has the greatest number of people at risk outside Mexico, where more than 1,600 cases are confirmed, and 159 people have died.

In Britain, there are now five confirmed cases of swine flu recorded among people who have recently visited Mexico. The latest cases are an adult in south London, another in Redditch and a 12-year-old girl in Devon. Her school, Paignton Community Colege, has been closed and all her fellow pupils are to be given anti-viral drugs.

As reported here earlier today, two cases have been confirmed in a Scottish couple who spent their honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico. Health authorities are awaiting the results of tests for swine flu in friends of the couple. 

In the meantime, the Department of Health in London is to send leaflets to every UK household about what precautions to take against the swine fever virus. Most important is that anyone who suspects they have contracted the virus should not visit their GP's surgery, but telephone for advice.

Elsewhere in the world, Germany has reported its first confirmed cases - three people recently returned from holiday in Mexico. Germany joins Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Austria and Israel in a list of countries affected. ·