The outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1), formerly known as swine flu, that has triggered fears of a pandemic on the world stage is in decline in Mexico, said the country’s Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova. “The evolution of the epidemic is now in its declining phase. The national peak occurred in recent days, between 23 and 28 April,” Cordova said in a press conference. However, the Mexican minister avoided getting carried away by optimism and reminded that caution must be maintained.

As of May 6, 2009, the country has reported 822 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 29 deaths from the new strain of flu. The results, though, show that the virus is receptive to antivirals, and that preventive measures appear to have been effective to slow down the transmission, according to Cordova.

Experts feared that the Influenza A (H1N1) virus was more virulent than the common flu. However, with the passage of days, the country’s health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) have rejected the H1N1 classification on many of the cases and alleviated some of the fears of the international community.

Cordova declared that the situation in the country has now entered into a ‘stabilization phase’ after discarding more than half a thousand suspected cases of Influenza A (H1N1) virus infection.

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Via BBC