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LISA MULLINS: The swine flu has also reached Europe. British officials say two people in Scotland have tested positive for the virus. And Spain today confirmed its first case. Spanish officials say they're also monitoring more than a dozen other suspected cases. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Barcelona.
GERRY HADDEN: All day today, Spanish health officials have been updating the number of suspected cases of swine flu and passing that information to the media. Here in Barcelona, 10 people, mostly students, are in quarantine in a local hospital. All have flu symptoms, and all recently traveled to Mexico. But Spain's Minister of Health, Trinidad Jimenez, says unlike the situation in Mexico, none of the Spanish patients is seriously ill. All of them, she says, are responding well to treatment. Nevertheless, the government is taking a series of steps to contain the potential spread of this flu. At Barcelona's International Airport, health workers are now screening travelers on flights from Mexico. This man said everyone on board his plane from Mexico City wore face masks. He said, “They've told us to alert for the next 10 days for any symptoms we might develop. And if we have any, they've advised us to contact our doctor.†European Union health officials are issuing advice of their own. At an emergency meeting in Brussels today, they warned that this swine flu could spread quickly around the continent and the world, because of international travel. Brussels EU Health Minister Androulla Vassiliou encouraged people to postpone travel to affected areas in Mexico and the U.S.
ANDROULLA VASSILIOU: Personally, I would try to avoid non-essential travel to the areas which are reported to be in the center of the cluster in order to minimize the personal risk and to reduce the potential risk to spread the infection to other people.
HADDEN: EU member states are poised to reactivate emergency plans developed three years ago against a potential bird flu outbreak. Since then, they've also stockpiled billions of dollars in
anti-viral medicines that could lessen the severity of swine flu, too. Yet as with any potential disease outbreak, officials are also trying to avoid public panic and confusion. Robert Madelin is the EU's Director of Health and Consumer Protection. Like Spain's Health Minister, he stresses that no patients have died outside Mexico. And he says even though this flu likely originated in pigs, there is no danger in eating pork.
MADELIN: I had a very nice filet du porc yesterday, and I recommend you to go on eating pork.
HADDEN: By tomorrow, Spanish health officials expect to learn whether the suspected cases are confirmed as swine flu. But in general, people here don't seem that worried. You don't see anyone wearing surgical masks on the streets of Barcelona, for example. And while Mexico banned spectators at weekend soccer matches, Spain's Real Madrid played rival Seville last night in a packed stadium. For The World, I'm Gerry Hadden in Barcelona.
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