The UN's most senior health official has warned that that the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus worldwide is now unstoppable.
Swine flu is running wild in the Southern Hemisphere and is spreading rapidly through Europe, with Britain projected to reach 100,000 daily cases by the end of August. The virus is even showing signs of rebounding in Mexico.
Hong Kong's health department has detected a case of human swine influenza virus that was resistant to Tamiflu, the main
"This is the first time Tamiflu resistance in HSI virus (was) found in Hong Kong," a spokesman for the health department said in a statement.
Only two other cases of Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 have been found so far, in Denmark and Japan.
According to the statement, the virus was isolated from a specimen taken from a 16-year-old girl coming from San Francisco, who was taken in by the Port Health Office at the Hong Kong International Airport upon
arrival on June 11.
The virus was identified during the health department's routine sensitivity test of HSI virus to oseltamivir and zanamivir, the spokesman said.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Dr Margaret Chan and health ministers from around the globe met yesterday in Cancun for a two-day summit to design strategies for battling the pandemic. Nations attending include the United States, Canada, China, Britain and Brazil.
"As we see today, with well over 100 countries reporting cases, once a fully fit pandemic virus emerges, its further international spread is unstoppable," Ms Chan said during opening remarks.
Mexican officials wanted the meeting held in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun - where tourism has plunged - to highlight the country's success in controlling its epidemic with a five-day national shutdown of schools and businesses in May.
The measures were applauded by the US Centres for Disease Control and international health officials.
"Our presence here is an expression of confidence," Ms Chan said. "Mexico is a safe, as well as a beautiful and warmly gracious, place to visit."
But Mexico is starting to see an increase in swine flu cases in isolated areas. In southern Chiapas state and the state of Yucatan - adjacent to Quintana Roo state, where Cancun is located - cases have more than doubled in a worrying sign that the country may see a resurgence, especially when its winter flu season begins in November.
Britain, which has officially reported 7,447 swine flu cases, is the hardest-hit nation in Europe. Many flu experts believe numbers could jump exponentially now that the virus is entrenched.
British officials had been trying to contain the flu by liberally giving out the drug Tamiflu to all suspected victims and their contacts. Health minister Andy Burnham said Thursday that Britain will now only give the antiviral to people with the virus after forecasting 100,000 new swine flu cases a day by the end of August.
Experts questioned Mr Burnham's prediction.
"It seems like a lot of mathematical modeling and not too much common sense," said John Oxford, a professor of virology at St Bart's and Royal London Hospital.
Prof Oxford predicted swine flu would taper off with summer's warm weather.
Australia has the most cases in the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 4,568 confirmed as of yesterday, an increase of 198 in one day. A 45-year-old man died in the intensive care ward of a Sydney hospital on Monday, becoming the 10th death.
Worldwide, there were 332 deaths and more than 77,000 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, according to the latest figures available from the WHO.
Researchers say they have discovered why outbreaks have been more like a series of local blazes than a wide-raging wildfire. The new virus has a protein on its surface that is inefficient at binding with receptors in people's respiratory tracts, restricting its ability to spread quickly, according to a report in today's edition of the journal
Science.
Ms Chan emphasised that most people recover from the illness without medical treatment and most who die have underlying medical conditions. She said researchers may have a vaccine by August but tests to determine its safety would need to be done before making it available to the public.
She also warned that officials are concerned about the virus mutating. "Like all influenza viruses, H1N1 has the advantage of surprise on its side," she said.
AP