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The Southern Hemisphere is particularly at risk. While Africa still hasn't reported any swine flu infections and New Zealand is the only country south of the equator with confirmed cases, winter is only weeks away. Experts worry that typical winter flus could combine with swine flu, creating a new strain that is more contagious or dangerous.
"You have this risk of an additional virus that could essentially cause two outbreaks at once," Dr. Jon Andrus said at the Pan American Health Organization's headquarters in Washington.
Still, the U.N. health agency urged governments to avoid unproven actions to contain the disease, including group quarantines of travelers from Mexico and bans on pork imports.
China, Argentina and Cuba are among the nations banning regular flights to and from Mexico, marooning passengers at both ends. Mexico and China both sent chartered flights to each other's countries to collect their citizens, with a chartered Mexican plane landing in Shanghai early Tuesday. Argentina also chartered a flight to bring Argentines home.
In a televised message to the country late Monday, Calderon had harsh words for countries that he said are treating Mexicans unfairly. "Stop taking actions that only hurt Mexico and don't contribute to avoid the transmission of the disease."
Chinese authorities quarantined Mexicans and other passengers who came in close contact with them, even those who didn't show symptoms.
China changed its visa rules for U.S. citizens. The Web site for the Chinese embassy and its consulates in the U.S said all visa applications would now require six business days to process, with express and rush services for visa applications suspended until further notice.
The new regulation, which became effective Monday, appears to apply to all Chinese visas, including tourist and business categories.
The American Embassy in Beijing said Tuesday that four U.S. citizens were quarantined in China. Embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said two of the Americans were in Beijing and the other pair were in the southern province of Guangdong. She said two of them were released.
In Tokyo, 37 passengers and two flight attendants on a flight from Los Angeles were detained in a hotel after Japanese officials suspected one traveler of having swine flu. They were released about 10 hours later when the passenger, a Japanese woman coming back from Las Vegas, tested negative for swine flu, American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said.
About 200 passengers who flew from the United Kingdom to Brunei were under quarantine in a Brunei hospital over swine flu fears Tuesday after three of them showed fever symptoms, an official said Tuesday.
[Associated
Press;
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