The Red Cross and Red Crescent said Monday that its national societies around the world were on full alert to tackle the deadly swine flu outbreak emerging from Mexico and the United States. --PHOTO: REUTERS
GENEVA - THE Red Cross and Red Crescent said Monday that its national societies around the world were on full alert to tackle the deadly swine flu outbreak emerging from Mexico and the United States.
'This is a situation of immediate and serious concern,' said Bekele Geleta, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
'Our national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, supported by IFRC health specialists... and working closely with their governments at the national level, are on full global alert,' he added. 'We will spare no resources in tackling this threat full on.'
In Mexico, the 486 local branches of the Red Cross were working closely with the authorities to limit the spread of the disease.
'The best-case scenario right now would be for national level epidemics to be managed, which would lessen the likelihood of a widespread global pandemic,' said the head of the federation's health department, Dominique Praplan.
Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the number of confirmed and suspected swine flu deaths in Mexico had hit 103, while the number of suspected cases reached 1,614.
The United States has declared a public health emergency and Europe's first confirmed case in this outbreak was reported in Spain on Monday. -- AFP
