Flu scare inches closer to RP; cases rise 5,251 from only 25

MANILA, Philippines - The virus that delayed the showing of “Wolverine" in Mexico and canceled the trip of the Japanese women’s football team to the US and the soccer tourney in Malaysia has inched closer to the Philippines. On Tuesday, Thailand reported its first case of the dreaded Influenza A(H1N1) infection. It is the first country in Southeast Asia – 1,377 miles from the Philippines – that contracted the disease. There are now 10 cases of A(H1N1) infection in Asia including that of Thailand. Four of which have been recorded in Japan, three in South Korea, and two in China. But the Philippines has remained A-(H1N1)-free as of May 12. All 38 people quarantined by the Philippine Department of Health were discharged on Tuesday after they tested negative for the virus. From only 25 confirmed and officially reported cases in the April 24 report of the World Health Organization (WHO), the incidents rose to 5,251 as of May 12 or about three weeks later, with 61 deaths – 56 in Mexico; three in the US; and one each in Canada and Costa Rica. Based on WHO’s May 12 report (Update 26), there are 30 countries stricken with the disease, excluding Thailand. Nine of the cases are in Asian countries, Japan, South Korea, and China. A total of 5,030 cases are found in 10 countries in the Americas: Mexico (2,059); US (2,600); Canada (330); Panama (16); Costa Rica (8); Brazil (8); El Salvador (4); Colombia (3); Guatemala (1) and Argentina (1). Fourteen countries in Europe are dealing with 197 A(H1N1) cases. These are Spain with 95 cases; United Kingdom – 55; France – 13; Germany – 12; Italy – 9; The Netherlands – 3; Sweden – 2; and Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, and Switzerland with one case each. Eight cases have been recorded in Oceania – seven in New Zealand and one in Australia – while the last one is in the Middle Eastern country of Israel. - with reports from Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV