New Delhi:
The Mexican flu continues to spread amongst European countries. Two more have got it, taking the total to at least 10 countries. However, the good news for India is that the case in Hyderabad has proved to be negative.
The world is in the grip of the deadly H1N1 virus. And no one wants to take any chances.
Hong Kong, still haunted by the SARS outbreak of 2003, has sealed a hotel for the last three days because one Mexican tourist with flu like symptoms checked in.
Locked in with him are 350 guests and employees.
"We have been in quarantine here. But whether or not it is necessary, I do not know. But by all means I see that they have to do it, because this is a serious thing," said Olivier Dolige, who is quarantined in the Hong Kong hotel.
Now, there is a new worry. In Canada, health experts are investigating the case of the virus being passed on from Mexico-returned farm hand to a pig.
But is the Mexican flu becoming as bad as one of the worst pandemic ever -- the Spanish flu of 1918, which had wiped out 50 million people in the world.
And for Spanish flu survivor Rose Worth's entire family, this latest flu is like revisiting history.
"It's about family. You don't think about yourself any more, not at the age of 100," Rose said.
The difference now is that modern science and technology could limit and hopefully prevent a rapid, global spread. But here is a reality check -- the WHO could declare a pandemic any day now.