Chile on Sunday reported its first two A/H1N1 flu cases while rising domestic infections in Japan caused concerns of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Chilean health authorities on Sunday confirmed a second case of the A/H1N1 flu, hours after the first case was confirmed.
Both victims were women over 30 who had arrived in Chile from the Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile in Asia, the number of domestically infected cases in Japan hit 80 on Sunday after a total of 72 people in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures were tested positive of the virus, local media reported.
The total number of infections in the country has now reached 84, including the first four cases contracted in North America.
The country is now facing the risk of grass-root outbreak which could possibly make the WHO to raise its new flu pandemic alert level from the current five to the top six, which means community-level outbreaks in two different WHO regions, experts have warned.
The WHO is launching investigation on the situation in Japan.
In the United States, the New York City Sunday reported its first death from the outbreak.
A 55-year-old assistant principal of a school in Queens, who had been hospitalized with H1N1, died on Sunday evening, which has brought the death toll in the country to six.
Three more schools in Queens of New York City will be temporarily closed over A/H1N1 flu concern, adding the closed schools to nine, the city announced Sunday.
Mexico, which has seen multifaceted impacts on its economy from the virus, complained of stagnant sales in pork.
Not one single pig has been sold in Mexico's southeastern state of Guerrero for the last three weeks because of the A/H1N1 flu, the industry association in the state said on Sunday.
According to WHO figures, more than 8,480 A/H1N1 cases had been reported in 40 countries by Sunday, and most of the confirmed cases are in the United States and Mexico.
The epidemic is expected to top the agenda of the WHO annual meeting, a five-day event that begins Monday in Geneva.
Experts have advised vaccination as an effective way to contain the new human flu, which has killed 76 people worldwide. But the intricacy linked to the virus' possible mutations to other forms has perplexed manufacturers.
WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan will issue experts' recommendations on the production of a vaccine at the Monday meeting.
(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2009)
