Over 1,300 new swine flu cases in Mexico in 3 days

MEXICO CITY: Mexico was hit with 1,341 new swine flu cases since Monday, bringing the total to 26,338 ahead of the usual autumn flu season, health officials said on Friday. The Health Ministry said one more person died from the A(H1N1) virus between Monday and Thursday, bringing the death toll to 218 in the country where the virus first emerged in April before becoming a pandemic. In late August, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova estimated that nearly one million people could be infected by the virus during the winter, out of a total population of 100 million in Mexico. The global flu death toll has reached 3,486, up 281 from a week ago, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has reported 296,471 known cases of infection. That number is seen as far below actual figures as some countries lack systematic analysis. The UN agency said the Americas region still has the highest death toll, at 2,625. The Asia-Pacific region reported 620 fatalities, while Europe recorded at least 140 deaths. In the Middle East, 61 people succumbed to the virus while in Africa, 40 people have died from it.