Thursday April 30 2009 byJulia White for express.co.ukTHREE more people in the UK have been diagnosed with killer swine flu amid new warnings that a global pandemic is 'imminent'.
A total of eight people have now been confirmed with the disease.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “There have been three more confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK - two in London and one in the North East.
“There are now eight confirmed cases in the UK - six in England, and two in Scotland.
“The preparations we have in place and are continuing to make will help to ensure we respond well in the event of a pandemic."
Earlier the World Health Organisation raised its alert level to phase five of six - meaning a global outbreak is 'imminent'.
And today the Government's Chief Medical Advisor warned that the country will see "many more cases" of swine flu.
|
|
SPREAD: A total of eight people in the UK now have the disease
|
MORE RELATED ARTICLES:
GLOBAL MAP OF SWINE FLU
SWINE FLU: YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
VIDEO: WHO RAISES PANDEMIC LEVEL TO FIVE
VIDEO: SWINE FLU KILLS TODDLER IN AMERICA
VIDEO: ARE FACE MASKS ANY HELP AGAINST SWINE FLU?
WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION UPDATES
But he did say that most people would make a good recovery.
Professor Sir Liam Donaldson said: “Phase five indicates that WHO considers a global pandemic to be
imminent, whereas at phase four a global pandemic is not inevitable.
“A change to phase five is a signal to countries’ governments to ramp
up their pandemic preparations - which we are already doing.
“What we will see is many more cases, but on the whole most people make a good recovery from flu.”
The five other swine flu cases in Britain include a 12-year-old girl from Paignton in Devon, a 41-year-old woman from Redditch, Worcestershire, and a 22-year-old man from Barnet, North London.
Health officials in the Paignton said “dozens” of other people in the area have complained of symptoms since.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown today insisted the Government had taken all precautions necessary to guard against a swine flu pandemic, saying he had “absolutely no doubt” there would be more cases in Britain.
|
|
GLOBAL: So far 11 countries in the world have been infected
|
He said: “I do understand British people will be concerned about this development. They will want to know what it means for the health and safety of the British people.
“I have absolutely no doubt there will be more cases. We have the
supplies in place and are ready to respond to the needs of the British
people.”
POLITICAL BLOG: IS CAMERON ENGINEERING A LABOUR DOWNFALL?
A Department of Health spokeswoman added: “The main message is that it
is business as usual.
“The advice from WHO
said that countries should activate their own plans and that is
something that we have already done.
“Still just five cases in the UK and the evidence that the early
anti-virals, such as Tamiflu, are helping people to recover.
Holland and Switzerland both confirmed their first cases of swine flu today, bringing the total number of countries affected around the world to 11.
In Mexico there have been eight confirmed deaths from the virus, with another 160 suspected swine flu fatalities.
There have been 93 confirmed cases in the US, 19 in Canada, 13 in New Zealand, five in Britain, four in Germany, 10 in Spain, two in Israel, and one in Austria.
HAVE YOUR SAY: ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT SWINE FLU?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO PROTECT YOURSELF?
