9 June : Mexico will host an international summit on swine flu at the Caribbean beach resort of Cancun in July the country’s health minister said.Representatives from 40 countries and the directors general of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization will take part in the summit from July 1st to 3rd, Jose Angel Cordova said in a statement on Monday.
Less than two months after the A(H1N1) virus first emerged, Cordova said the epidemic is now under control.A few isolated cases have emerged this month, the last reported on 3rd June and the last death on 31st May raising the number of fatalities in Mexico to 106.
The health minister said he may be able to remove a flu alert in Mexico later in June.Swine flu has now spread to 73 countries with 25,288 people known to have been infected and 139 people killed, according to the latest WHO tally. It was first uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April.Cordova said Mexico is working on a project to create a swine flu vaccine which could be ready in three months.
He was speaking after a meeting with Japanese deputy foreign minister Shintaro Ito. The two discussed strategies to combat the virus.