The Mexican death toll from the H1N1 swine flu virus is rising.
Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said late Saturday three more people had died from the virus, bringing the total number of people killed to 19. He said another 454 people have been infected.
Earlier Saturday, Cordova and a top health official in the United States had expressed some hope that the spread the virus was slowing, even though three new countries confirmed their first cases.
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said about one-third of the confirmed 160 U.S. cases are people who had been to Mexico. The U.S. death toll from the virus remains at one. The CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat (Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health Program) cautioned that health officials must remain vigilant.
US, Mexican Presidents Discuss Outbreak
President Obama discusses H1N1 flu virus during weekly broadcast address, 02 May 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon spoke by phone for 20 minutes Saturday to discuss the flu outbreak.Ireland, Italy and Costa Rica all confirmed their first cases of the swine flu virus Saturday.A top World Health Organization official said Saturday the organization still considers a pandemic could be "imminent."
WHO: Flu Still Spreading
Dr. Michael Ryan said even though there is no evidence the swine flu virus is spreading outside of North America in a "sustained" way, it is still spreading.
The WHO reports swine flu has spread to 18 countries with more than 600 confirmed cases.
Nuns wear protective face masks in Mexico City, 1 May 2009
The health organization says it has sent 2.4 million treatments of anti-viral drugs to 72 developing countries to prepare for a possible pandemic.The WHO says, in addition to Mexico and the United States, the virus has been confirmed in Italy, South Korea, France, Denmark, Hong Kong, Austria, Britain, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland and Switzerland.The organization says it is not advising any restrictions on travel or border closures. Nevertheless, several airlines have reduced flights to Mexico because of fears over the new flu.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
Una semana después de que se declarara en Situación de Desastre, y dos días después de que Perú confirmara que el virus AH1N1 no se encontraba en su territorio, Colombia se convierte en el primer país de América del Sur en confirmar con seguridad la presencia del virus que se ha expandido por todo el planeta; pues han habido muertes en México y Estados Unidos, así como casos confirmados en otros países.

De acuerdo a las declaraciones de Diego Palacio Betancourt, Ministro de la Protección Social, se trata de un hombre de 42 años con residencia en Zipaquirá que hace pocos días llegó de México, cuya identidad fue mantenida en reserva:



Con ello, y con los 108 casos sospechosos aún sin descartar, se prueba que "la presencia y diseminación del virus es un hecho"; no obstante, el gobierno llama a la calma y prudencia de los medios de comunicación. Además anunció la llegada de 14.000 pastillas de Tamiflu (oseltamivir), que prevé empiecen a ser fabricadas en el país para hacer contra a la pandemia en el territorio nacional.

Por otra parte, el gobierno puso a disposición de la ciudadanía un Puesto de Mando Unificado que opera en el Club Militar de Bogotá. En él se centralizará la información y se tomarán decisiones conjuntas conforme aumenten los números de afectados por la enfermedad en el país.