H1N1 pandemic flu has spread to 160 countries and killed about 800 people, and needs to be watched in case it mutates, the WHO said on Friday.
The worldwide death toll from swine flu has doubled in the past month, reaching more than 700 since the start of the outbreak, WHO said on Tuesday.
Three more people were diagnosed with swine flu over the weekend, pushing SA’s number of cases to seven, the Health Department said on Monday.
Authorities appealed for calm on Monday after Britain confirmed the first swine flu death outside the Americas.
The WHO was poised on Thursday to declare that the new H1N1 virus has caused the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years.
The WHO will on Thursday consult its emergency committee of flu experts, which could recommend the declaration of a swine flu pandemic.
The WHO called a meeting of top world scientists on Friday to assess the swine flu outbreak that has killed 125 and infected about 22 000 people.
Countries should be ready for more serious H1N1 flu infections and more deaths from the newly discovered virus, the WHO said on Friday.
Mexico’s swine flu death toll has risen by four as the virus continues to spread through Latin America and makes inroads in Asia.
The H1N1 flu strain is spreading fast in Japan, the WHO said on Monday, and ministers and top officials in Geneva discussed how to fight pandemic flu.
Japan said on Sunday that 13 more students had tested positive for swine flu, as officials gathered in Geneva for talks on how to contain the virus.
The WHO warned on Friday against a false sense of security from waning and apparently mild outbreaks of H1N1 flu, saying the worst may not be over.
Southern African countries have put a response plan in place to deal with possible swine flu cases, Health Minister Barbara Hogan said on Thursday.
Germany confirmed its first three cases of swine flu on Wednesday, the eighth country where the virus has been found.
The South African government’s ”non-response” to the outbreak of swine flu was worrying, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.
A new virus that has killed 149 people in Mexico was found further around the world on Tuesday and the specter of a pandemic began to hit air travel.
New Zealand and Israel confirmed cases of swine flu on Tuesday, the latest countries hit by a new strain that has killed up to 149 people in Mexico.
South Africans should not panic over swine flu, which is spreading in some parts of the world, the Health Department said on Tuesday.
Mozambique has placed its ports of entry on high alert and officials are looking out for any incidences of swine flu.
Governments acted to stem a possible flu pandemic on Monday, as a virus that has killed 103 people in Mexico was confirmed to have reached Europe.
Fears that any tentative green shoots in the global economy could be trampled by a deadly outbreak of swine flu put Asian markets on edge on Monday.
The World Health Organisation called on governments on Tuesday to make their hospitals disaster-proof.
Robert Mugabe should be hauled before the ICC to explain the ”tragic situation” in his country, Cope’s Mvume Dandala said on Tuesday.
Flooding in Angola has left at least 20 000 people homeless and the region is now at risk of a cholera outbreak, aid agencies said on Friday.
Alleged mismanagement at the WHO regional office has resulted in the body doing little on the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, reports Mara Kardas-Nel.
Fifty-nine people in South Africa have died since the cholera outbreak spread from Zimbabwe in November, Health Minister Barbara Hogan said on Monday.
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/ 20 February 2009
Repairing Zimbabwe’s battered economy could cost as much as -billion, said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday.
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/ 9 February 2009
The number of people suffering from cholera in Zimbabwe has risen to more than 69 000 cases, United Nations figures show.
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/ 6 February 2009
A judge has ended the treason trial of a top Zimbabwean opposition leader, saying prosecutors appear unprepared to proceed.
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/ 5 February 2009
The number of cholera cases recorded in Zimbabwe has risen past the 65 000 mark, the latest data from the WHO showed on Wednesday.
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/ 2 February 2009
Robert Mugabe has agreed to allow a top-level UN team to visit Zimbabwe to find ways of curbing a cholera epidemic and a hunger crisis.
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/ 2 February 2009
Malaysian plantation worker Rajam Murugasu became blind in one eye after she slipped and accidentally sprayed the weedkiller paraquat in her face.