Suspected cases of Swine Flu in India found negative

New Delhi, May 2 (ANI): All six samples that were sent to National Institute of Communicable Disease for suspected cases of Swine Flu have turned out to be negative. ealth screening of passengers coming from affected countries is continuing in 18 International airports at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Srinagar and Trichy. Besides, screening of passengers at Varanasi will start tomorrow. A total of 33,936 passengers have been screened. 126 doctors and 71 paramedics have been deployed to man 51 counters at these airports.

The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has reported 615 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A/H1N1 infection with 17 deaths from fifteen countries.

The global body said that 13 countries have now reported laboratory confirmed cases.

Mexico has begun its 5-day shutdown to curb the and has raised its confirmed swine flu death toll from 15 to 16, adding that the total number of confirmed cases of the virus had risen to 397.

Mexico is observing complete shut down of its economy in a bid to slow the spread of the flu virus.

The nations across the globe are taking extra precautions to curb the menace of epidemic.

According to the latest WHO figures released late on Friday, the United States has 141 cases and 1 death.

Canada has 34 cases, Spain 13 and Britain 8. New Zealand and Germany have 3 confirmed cases each, Israel has two, and Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, South Korea and Hong Kong have a case each.

Swine Flu or the H1N1 virus is a genetic re-assortment of swine influenza, avian influenza and human influenza strains. The diagnosed human cases suggest extended human-to-human transmission.

The World Health Organization has raised the pandemic alert to its second highest level. (ANI)