Chile swine flu deaths rise to 14,Argentina’s to 26

“At this moment the new human influenza A(H1N1) virus is demonstrating a high transmissibility in the population,as expected in winter when conditions are optimal for its circulation,” the health ministry said in a statement.

The ministry put the number of confirmed swine flu cases at 7,342 since the first cases were detected in mid-May,with 3.4 per cent of the cases — about 250 people – requiring hospitalisation.

The World Health Organisation,which declared a global swine flu pandemic earlier this month,said Monday that the number of recorded A(H1N1) cases had reached 70,893,with 311 deaths,since the virus was first discovered in late March in Mexico and the United States.

Chile’s neighbour Argentina has South America’s highest death toll,now at 26,with 1,587 confirmed cases,according

to the country’s health ministry.