Virus spreads
June 2, 2009
Germany's total number of swine flu cases is up to 32 as four new cases were recorded on Monday.
In Cologne, two men, one 25 and the other 51, were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus after complaining of fever, fatigue and muscle aches after returning from their trips to New York. The two new cases bring the total number in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to 11, the most in Germany.
Lower Saxony health ministers in Hanover announced the first swine flu diagnosis in that state on Monday. Doctors in the city of Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea coast are treating a four-year-old boy for the illness. He recently returned from a vacation in the US state of New Mexico with his parents, who tested negative for the virus.
In the eastern city of Leipzig, A US businessman was diagnosed with swine flu. He had recently arrived in Germany from the US and had been receiving medical treatment in a clinic since last Wednesday.
Over the weekend, five other new cases were recorded. Four of the five were vacationers returning from the US; the fifth was a family member who was infected upon her father's return.
Since the swine flu virus' first outbreak in Mexico in April, the US has taken the lead in the number of cases, now at just over 10,000. In its latest report, the World Health Organization reported 17,410 cases of the A/H1N1 virus worldwide, with 115 deaths.
mrh/dpa/AP
Editor: Chuck Penfold