Influenza A/H1N1 continued to spread around the world on Sunday as more than 8,450 people in 39 countries have been confirmed to have been infected with the disease with 75 deaths.
Turkey confirmed its first two cases while India confirmed its first case of the flu on Saturday, all involving airline passengers from the United States. Malaysia found its second confirmed case on Saturday and its first on Friday.
They are in addition to the 36 other countries that the World Health Organization says have confirmed cases of the disease.
In China, one confirmed case of the epidemic was reported in Beijing, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday evening.
It is the third confirmed case of A/H1N1 flu on Chinese mainland, according to the ministry.
The case involved a 18-year-old Chinese student at a university in the New York State of the United States, and she is currently in stable condition with normal body temperature, the ministry said.
In Japan, the Health Ministry said 16 more cases of the flu have been confirmed, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 21.
In Mexico, health officials said on Saturday that the death toll of A/H1N1 flu in the country rose to 68 from 66 in the previous day.
The number of other people who have contracted the flu reached 3,034.
The ministry said Mexico is on the path to controlling the outbreak as reports of infections, deaths and hospitalizations are showing a decreasing trend.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than 4,700 confirmed and suspected cases have been reported in 46 states plus the District of Columbia.
British officials confirmed two more cases of the flu, bringing the total infected cases in the country to 87. The Health Protection Agency said Saturday that 47 of those cases are in London.
The two patients are adults, one from the southeast region and the other from eastern England.
In Belgium, health authorities have confirmed the country's fifth case of the epidemic as a young man tested positive on Saturday for the H1N1 virus.
The man has joined four others in a special quarantine ward at a hospital in Brussels. Authorities said they were all in quite good condition and they were expected to fully recover.
Sweden confirmed on Saturday the third case of the A/H1N1 flu in the country.
The patient is a woman in her 60s, who recently visited the U.S. city of San Diego, the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control said in a statement.
The woman has fully recovered, the statement said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2009)
