Health experts were investigating a case of the virus jumping from a person to pigs, trying to determine if the disease was reaching a new stage.
Hong Kong kept 350 people under quarantine in a hotel as a precaution even though no new swine flu infections appeared in Asia, and Egypt's attempt to kill all pigs as a precaution against the disease prompted pig owners to clash with police who were helping to seize their animals for slaughter.
So far the swine flu epidemic has killed 19 in people in Mexico and one toddler in the United States and has spread to 18 countries worldwide ? but experts believe the actual spread is much wider.
Mexico's health secretary said 11 people were suspected to have died from the virus in the previous 24 hours. The alarming news came after the epidemic's toll in Mexico appeared to have been leveling off.
The global caseload was nearing 800 and growing ? the vast majority in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Colombia on Sunday reported South America's first confirmed case of swine flu a day after Costa Rica reported the first in Central America.
The Spanish Health Ministry said the country now has 40 confirmed cases of swine flu ? making it the European nation hardest hit by the virus. It said most of the victims have already recovered. All but two had recently visited Mexico.
Britain, Italy and Germany also reported new cases.
But just more than a week into the outbreak, the virus largely remains an unpredictable mystery.
Hong Kong ? which was criticized for delaying quarantine measures during the SARS outbreak ? sealed the downtown Metropark Hotel, where a sickened Mexican tourist had stayed, trapping 350 guests and employees inside.
About a half dozen police officers wearing masks guarded the hotel Sunday, even though all those at the hotel were reported to be healthy. One guest said he walked on the stairs for exercise and to alleviate boredom.
"It's highly inconvenient. That's what's affecting people, because it took us by surprise," said 45-year-old Kevin Ireland, who was on a business trip from New Delhi, India.
Scientists warn that the virus could mutate into a deadlier form.
"Influenza is unpredictable," said Dr. Tim Uyeki, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has worked on SARS and H5N1 bird flu outbreaks. "There are so many unanswered questions. This is a brand new virus. There's so much we don't know about the human infectious with this virus."
Hong Kong kept 350 people under quarantine in a hotel as a precaution even though no new swine flu infections appeared in Asia, and Egypt's attempt to kill all pigs as a precaution against the disease prompted pig owners to clash with police who were helping to seize their animals for slaughter.
So far the swine flu epidemic has killed 19 in people in Mexico and one toddler in the United States and has spread to 18 countries worldwide ? but experts believe the actual spread is much wider.
Mexico's health secretary said 11 people were suspected to have died from the virus in the previous 24 hours. The alarming news came after the epidemic's toll in Mexico appeared to have been leveling off.
The global caseload was nearing 800 and growing ? the vast majority in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Colombia on Sunday reported South America's first confirmed case of swine flu a day after Costa Rica reported the first in Central America.
The Spanish Health Ministry said the country now has 40 confirmed cases of swine flu ? making it the European nation hardest hit by the virus. It said most of the victims have already recovered. All but two had recently visited Mexico.
Britain, Italy and Germany also reported new cases.
But just more than a week into the outbreak, the virus largely remains an unpredictable mystery.
Hong Kong ? which was criticized for delaying quarantine measures during the SARS outbreak ? sealed the downtown Metropark Hotel, where a sickened Mexican tourist had stayed, trapping 350 guests and employees inside.
About a half dozen police officers wearing masks guarded the hotel Sunday, even though all those at the hotel were reported to be healthy. One guest said he walked on the stairs for exercise and to alleviate boredom.
"It's highly inconvenient. That's what's affecting people, because it took us by surprise," said 45-year-old Kevin Ireland, who was on a business trip from New Delhi, India.
Scientists warn that the virus could mutate into a deadlier form.
"Influenza is unpredictable," said Dr. Tim Uyeki, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has worked on SARS and H5N1 bird flu outbreaks. "There are so many unanswered questions. This is a brand new virus. There's so much we don't know about the human infectious with this virus."
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