Swine flu cases hit 55,000 - WHO

Swine flu has infected 55,867 people in 109 countries and territories and killed 238 people since late March, the World Health Organisation reported on Wednesday.

There have been an extra 3,707 new cases and seven more deaths since the last report released by the UN health agency on Monday, a slower rate of increase than the sharp rise from the previous Friday.

In the latest figures Canada experienced the largest increase, of 747 to a total of 6,457, including 15 dead, followed by Australia, up 421 to 2,857, with two dead.

Of the seven new deaths, two each occurred in Mexico and Canada, and one each in Australia, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic.

The United States remains the worst-hit in the world, with 21,449 cases, 87 of them fatal, followed by Mexico, where the outbreak began in March, on 7,847 with 115 deaths.

Britain remains the worst-affected country in Europe. It has recorded 399 additional cases, taking its total to 2,905, including one death.

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