Mexico bid to contain deadly flu

Mexican authorities have closed schools and public buildings in the capital in a bid to contain a new flu virus suspected of killing up to 60 people.

Public events were suspended and residents donned face masks as concern grew over the outbreak.

Health experts say tests so far seem to link it with a new swine flu virus that sickened eight in the southern US.

US experts said they were taking the virus seriously and working to learn as much as possible about it.

But both the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said that there was no need at this point to issue travel advisories for parts of Mexico or the US.

In Geneva, the WHO said an emergency committee would likely convene over the weekend. It said it had prepared "rapid containment measures" in case they were needed.

In the US, the White House said it was monitoring events.



Mexican authorities suspect the virus may have been involved in the deaths of about 60 people, mostly in and around Mexico City, since mid-March.

A new swine flu strain has been confirmed in 20 of the deaths and 40 others are being tested, Mexico's health secretary said. More than 900 other people are thought to have been infected.