WHO says confirmed swine flu cases top 8,400

The number of confirmed swine flu cases has reached 8,451, a rise of nearly 1,000 in 24 hours, the World Health Organisation said on Saturday.

The number of people killed by the influenza A(H1N1) virus also rose to 72, compared with 65 on Friday, the WHO said.

Over the past week the number of people infected by the virus has risen sharply, going up by around 1,000 a day since Monday.

The United States, followed by Mexico, where the epidemic began, have recorded the highest number of cases. Two new countries, Ecuador and Peru, have been added to the WHO's official list.

Here is the latest breakdown as supplied by the WHO.

United States: 4,714 (four deaths)

Total number of infections confirmed by laboratory tests: 8,451

Total number of deaths: 72

The World Health Organisation data is a daily compilation of laboratory confirmed cases reported by member states to the UN health agency. It therefore may not take into account more recent cases reported by individual countries, such as India and Turkey, which announced their first cases on Saturday.

(c) 2009 AFP