30 countries confirm A/H1N1 casesMay 12, 2009 - 00:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The World Health Organization (WHO) Monday said that 4,694 cases of the new influenza A/H1N1 infection, including 53 deaths, were confirmed in 30 countries.Mexico had 48 deaths from 1,626 laboratory-confirmed human cases of infection. The US had 2,532 infections, including three deaths and Canada reported 284 cases, with one death. Costa Rica was hit with eight instances of the virus, including one death. In Europe, Spain was most affected, with 95 cases of what is also known as swine flu, and Britain had 47 infections, the health agency said on its Website. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's head of health security, could not say how the virus would act in Europe. "It is hard to know what will happen in Europe," he said, adding that so far nearly all cases in the continent were travel related, meaning people brought the virus back with them from trips abroad. Similarly, he said the organization was still trying to understand the overall nature of the new virus. Pinning down the severity of the disease was also difficult as there was no quantitative scientific definition of the term. "Severity is not a simple issue," he said, adding later, "there is no epidemiological definition of severity." The WHO was trying to strike a balance between the level of concern caused to populations and the need to stay alert, Fukuda said about the warning system in use. Currently, the agency has its influenza alert status at phase 5, just one below the highest possible, though this only tracks the geographic spread and not other aspects of the disease. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life, Strong Mind IDBank and Idram summarize the results of the May program of “The Power of One Dram”. Yerevan State University, Ucom sign Memorandum of Cooperation Rector of Yerevan State University Hovhannes Hovhannisyan and General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian signed the memorandum. EU to provide budgetary support to Armenia The agreement is aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the educational system of Armenia. Aliyev: No peace treaty unless Armenia changes constitution Azerbaijan will not sign a peace treaty with Armenia unless the latter changes its constitution, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said. |