Mexico City (dpa) - The new variant of influenza, A(H1N1), which
has killed 15 people in Mexico and one in the United States, is less
lethal than bird flu and SARS that have killed more than 1,000 people
in Asia since 2003, Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova
Villalobos said Friday.
"Fortunately the virus is not so aggressive," Cordova Villalobos
said. "It is not as lethal as the case of bird flu, where mortality
is around 70 per cent."
Mexico has so far reported a 4.18-per-cent death rate from the 358
people confirmed to have fallen sick from the virus. More than 776
samples have been tested.
Data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that
from 2003 to April 23, 2009, there were 421 bird flu infections
around the world, including 257 deaths. This means the virus has a
mortality rate of 61 per cent.
In the case of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), WHO
reported 8,098 cases between March 17-September 26, 2003, with 774
deaths or a 9.55-per-cent mortality.
"We are apparently being able to contain (the new virus) more
quickly," Cordova Villalobos said.
Copyright 2009 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH