Mexico lowers swine flu alert as businesses in capital reopen

Mexico lowered its swine flu alert one notch Thursday as more than 6 million students returned to classes and thousands of shuttered businesses reopened their doors. The alert went from orange (elevated) to yellow (medium). Mexico has reported 1,112 laboratory-confirmed cases, including 42 deaths, according to the World Health Organization

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Pacman may delay Philippines return amid flu fears

The Philippines has asked boxing idol Manny Pacquiao to delay his hero’s return to the country as a precaution against the spread of swine flu from the United States. Pacquiao, considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, cemented his reputation Saturday night when he knocked out British boxer Ricky Hatton in the second round of a match in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 30-year-old is a national hero in the Philippines where his bouts bring the country to a standstill.

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U.N. wary of second wave of swine flu

A shutdown of public venues in Mexico City is likely to be lifted by Wednesday, despite caution by U.N. health officials that a second wave of the swine flu virus could "strike with a vengeance." By early Monday, the number of cases worldwide stood at 985, with 26 deaths. Twenty-five deaths were reported in Mexico — the epicenter of the outbreak with 590 cases.

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Was the Alarm Over Swine Flu Justified?

Like a patient suffering from a particularly tenacious case of, well, the flu, the H1N1 virus seemed to gain ground and lose it over the weekend, leaving health officials still cautious, but hopeful that the disease might be on the wane. The number of confirmed infections continues to rise, with the World Health Organization reporting 898 infections in 18 countries as of May 3, and the Centers for Disease Control tallying 226 confirmed cases in 30 states. The continuing spread led Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to predict on Sunday that the WHO might soon raise its pandemic alert level from phase 5 to the highest stage, phase 6, which would indicate that a full flu pandemic was underway

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Hysteria over swine flu is the real danger, some say

As the number of swine flu cases rises around the world, so is a gradual backlash — with some saying the threat the virus poses is overblown. By Sunday, 787 cases of the virus, known as influenza A (H1N1), had been confirmed in 17 countries, the World Health Organization said. The number of fatalities grew to 20

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Canada: Farmer possibly gave swine flu to pigs

More than a week after the swine flu outbreak rattled the world, with cases of infected people popping up from Mexico to South Korea, the new virus strain has shown up in a herd of swine. The catch, Canadian officials say, is that the animals may have caught the flu from a human. Canadian officials are quarantining pigs that tested positive for the virus — scientifically known as 2009 H1N1 — at an Alberta farm in what could be the first identified case of pigs infected during the recent outbreak

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