(CNN) — The number of suspected and confirmed swine flu cases rose around the world early Tuesday, as health officials announced new measures to contain the outbreak. By early Tuesday, the swine flu outbreak in Mexico was suspected in 152 deaths and more than 1,600 illnesses, its health minister told reporters.
So far, at least 90 cases have been confirmed worldwide, including 50 in the United States, 26 in Mexico (including seven deaths), six in Canada, three in New Zealand, two each in Spain and the United Kingdom, and one in Israel.
With at least 11 other countries suspecting infections, the World Health Organization has raised its alert level from three to four on its six-level scale.
The following is a sample of what some countries are doing to combat the virus:
CANADA
Cases: Six mild cases
Measures:
– Issued a travel health notice, saying its public health agency was “tracking clusters of severe respiratory illness with deaths in Mexico.”
CHINA
Cases: None
Measures:
– Banned pork imports from Mexico, and from California, Kansas and Texas in the United States.
INDIA
Cases: None
Measures:
– Indian health officials advised citizens to postpone their non-essential travel to the swine flu-hit regions.
– Stepped up surveillance at ports and airports.
– States asked to review their preparedness.
INDONESIA
Cases: None
Measures:
– Increased surveillance; testing the temperatures of travelers flying into the country.
ISRAEL
Cases: One man who recently returned from Mexico has tested positive for swine flu, and is recovering at a hospital. Doctors are running tests on a second man who also traveled to Mexico.
Measures:
– The Health Ministry has not issued special instructions to the public, nor adopted measures for monitoring those returning from Mexico.
– The country is calling the outbreak “Mexico flu” so that citizens do not have to pronounce the name of an animal considered impure in Judaism and Islam.
JAPAN
Cases: None
Measures:
– The foreign ministry suspended visa waivers for visitors from Mexico.
– Airport officials are checking passengers before they disembark.
KENYA
Cases: None
Measures:
– Screening passengers from Europe and the Americas at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
MEXICO
Cases: 152 deaths are thought to have been caused by swine flu, according to Jose Angel Cordova, Mexico’s secretary of health.
So far, however, only 26 cases — 19 infections and seven deaths — have been confirmed by laboratory tests in Mexico and reported to the World Health Organization.
Measures:
– Mexico City has closed its schools and universities until further notice.
– Troops passed out 4 million filter masks in the city of 20 million residents.
– Officials are considering shutting down the bus and subway systems.
– Citizens are asked to avoid large crowds, refrain from kissing, and stay at least six feet from one another.
– The World Bank is offering $205 million to deal with the outbreak.
NEW ZEALAND
Cases:
– Three students at Auckland’s Rangitoto College who returned from three weeks in Mexico have tested positive for swine flu. Meanwhile, test results for three people from Northcote College who also traveled abroad came back negative.
Measures:
– New Zealanders who traveled to Mexico or North America in the past two weeks are asked to get in touch with health officials if they have flu-like symptoms.
RUSSIA:
Cases: None
Measures:
– Banned all meat imports from Mexico and the southern United States.
– Announced it will screen incoming passengers from those two countries by taking their temperatures.
– Set up a government commission to plan response, and advised citizens against traveling to Mexico.
SOUTH KOREA
Cases: A 51-year-old woman, who recently returned from Mexico, tested positive for type-A influenza. Tests are being conducted to see whether the influenza is of the swine flu strain. The woman remained quarantined Tuesday.
Measures:
– Suspended pork imports from Mexico, the United States and Canada.
– Stepped up inspections of passengers returning from affected areas.
– Took steps to double its stockpile of Tamiflu anti-viral medicine — enough to treat about 5 million people, or 10 percent of the country’s population.
SPAIN
Cases: Two cases confirmed and 25 others suspected — all of whom had recently traveled to Mexico. None is in serious condition.
Measures:
– The government is trying to reach passengers who were on flights with people suspected or confirmed with the flu.
THAILAND
Cases: None.
Measures:
– Airport officials are keeping a closer eye on passengers arriving from Mexico.
– The health ministry is calling the virus “the flu that has caused an outbreak in Mexico,” so that the public does not confuse “swine flu” with “bird flu.” The ministry also said it did not want to hurt the pork industry.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Cases: None
Measures: The ministry of health issued a circular, asking doctors to be prepared to deal with any potential swine flu cases.
UNITED KINGDOM
Cases: Two confirmed, in Scotland. The patients were recovering.
Measures:
– The Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to Mexico.
UNITED STATES
Cases: 40 confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California confirmed seven additional cases and Texas three, but those were not immediately added to the CDC’s total.
Including the new cases in California and Texas, officials have confirmed 14 cases in California, five in Texas, two in Kansas, one in Ohio and 28 in New York, for a total of 50.
Measures:
— The government declared a public health emergency to free up federal, state and local agencies and their resources, should the need arise.
– The government urged travelers to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico.
– The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for the use of two of the most common anti-viral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza. The authorization allows the distribution of the drugs by a broader range of health care workers and loosens age limits for their use.
VENEZUELA
Cases: None.
Measures:
– Security stepped up at airports and borders.