Swine flu arrives in Asia

South Korea Saturday reported its first case of swine flu after Hong Kong said a man who flew from Mexico had the disease, in Asia’s first confirmed cases as the virus continues its global spread.

But health authorities said the world appeared better prepared to fight an epidemic than a few years ago, and vowed that a vaccine was only months away.

Confirmation by Hong Kong authorities Friday that a traveller who arrived from Mexico, via Shanghai, had tested positive for A(H1N1) flu virus saw an entire hotel quarantined.

And in South Korea, authorities Saturday confirmed the country’s first case, involving a a 51-year-old woman who returned from Mexico Sunday.

The Hong Kong case sent shivers through the territory as thousands donned masks in an echo of the 2003 SARS crisis.

China responded quickly, saying it was to put all passengers on the flight from Mexico to Shanghai under quarantine and that flights from Mexico to the city were being suspended.

Denmark and France joined the list of countries reporting their first cases.

But in a sign that authorities may be containing the spread of the disease, Mexico, which has been at the epicentre of the outbreak, said the new, multi-strain virus appeared not to be as aggressive as had first been feared.

Mexico’s government late Friday raised its confirmed toll of flu cases to 16 dead and 381 infected.

“Fortunately, the virus is not so aggressive — it’s not a case of avian flu, which had a mortality rate of nearly 70 percent,” Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova earlier told reporters.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was taking no chances, however, in this densely populated, sub-tropical territory, saying he would “raise the alert level from serious to emergency.

”China “has asked health authorities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong to immediately put passengers on flight AM098... under quarantine and a seven-day medical observation,” the health ministry said on its website.

And Xinhua news agency reported Beijing was shutting down flights between Mexico and Shanghai.

Most cases outside Mexico have involved only mild symptoms of the illness that can be easily treated with existing flu medicines, and some experts have suggested the virus may have weakened as it was carried outside the country.

AFP