Mexico confirms two more flu deaths, raises toll to 58

Source: Xinhua | 05-13-2009 07:46

MEXICO CITY, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government on Tuesday raised the death toll from the new influenza A/H1N1 to 58,adding two, and raised the number of confirmed cases of the novel flu to 2,282, up from 2,059 on Monday.

However, all the newly confirmed deaths were from before last Thursday. The ministry did not confirm a death reported Monday by media of a soldier in Chihuahua, Mexico's largest state which borders the United States.

With eight confirmed deaths, April 25, two days after a flu emergency was declared, was the flu's deadliest day, according to Tuesday's data. Only four of the 58 confirmed deaths took place after the April 23 declaration of a national emergency, authorities said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the World Health Organization said that there are now 5,251 confirmed infections worldwide, with the United States as the most infected nation with 2,600 cases. There have been three deaths in the United States, and one each in Canada and Costa Rica.

At a morning press conference, Mexico's health minister, Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, said that sanitary cordons had identified 100,000 children with symptoms of the flu -- headaches, high body temperature, breathing difficulties and muscular pain --on Monday, the first day of classes for nursery, primary and secondary school pupils for most of the nation. Around half of these were well enough to attend classes, but were taught separately to their classmates. The remainder were sent home.

On April 24, the government had ordered all education institutions closed in a bid to check the spread of flu, effectively sending around 33 million people home. Higher education bodies opened on Thursday. 　

Editor:Zhang Pengfei