Ocimum Biosolutions to introduce new test for H1N1 flu

September 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Seven out of 10 Americans consider H1N1 virus a "very" or "somewhat" serious problem, a new CBS poll has found. In May, just 49 percent described H1N1 as "very" or "somewhat" serious.

August 7th, 2009 PUNE - Two men in Pune are reported to be in critical condition after testing positive for H1N1 influenza and have been put on ventilator support. Doctors attending the two patients said that both of them were critical.

June 30th, 2009 LONDON - A scientific system, designed to rapidly evaluate the world's air traffic patterns, can accurately predict how the H1N1 virus would spread around the world, says a new study. The research has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

May 22nd, 2009 NEW YORK - The number of confirmed deaths from the A(H1N1) influenza virus in the US rose to nine after the death of a young man in Utah, the federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday. The CDC put the total number of confirmed infections with the new virus in the US at 5,764.

May 21st, 2009 NEW YORK/WASHINGTON - Worried parents kept children at home in New York Wednesday out of the fear that they might catch A(H1N1) influenza, commonly known as swine flu, after the virus had forced officials to close schools. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday the number of deaths from the swine flu in the US has risen to eight with 5,710 confirmed and probable cases throughout the country.

May 19th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - The number of confirmed deaths from influenza A (H1N1) in Mexico has risen to 70, with total confirmed infections by the virus reaching 3,646, the country's health ministry has said. 'Two deaths that took place on April 19 and May 13 in Mexico City were confirmed to be related to the A/H1N1 flu,' the ministry's statement said Monday.

May 17th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Doctors at the Chest Hospital in Hyderabad have declared that the symptoms of India's first confirmed swine flu patient have come down after he started receiving medication. Doctors at the Swine Flu Isolation Ward said the hospital was taking every precaution to ensure that the H1N1 virus does not spread any further, and that there is no need for the general public to panic.

May 16th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - Ecuador and Turkey have confirmed their first cases of swine flu infections. The number of countries affected by the swine flu in Latin America has risen to 12 after Ecuador reported its first infection Friday.

May 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A man suffering heart problems died of complications from the influenza A (H1N1) flu strain. It was the third human swine flu fatality reported in the US so far, according to the Seattle Times newspaper.

May 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New data from Mexico and case numbers so far suggest that if the spread of H1N1 "swine flu" continues elsewhere as it has in the Americas, the virus could infect more than a billion people by July. The data also suggests that summer temperatures in temperate countries may not slow the virus.

May 7th, 2009 GENEVA - A third of the world could potentially become infected with the new H1N1 influenza virus, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said Thursday. 'Looking at past pandemics, a third of the world's population could be infected,' Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's head of health security, said.

May 7th, 2009 GENEVA - The number of laboratory confirmed cases of infections of the new influenza A(H1N1) virus rose to 1,893 in 23 countries, the World Health Organization said. In a posting to its website late Wednesday, the health agency confirmed also a second death in the US, on top of 29 deaths in Mexico.

May 4th, 2009 BEIJING - China has developed a new diagnostic method to test influenza A(H1N1) virus in pigs, the agriculture ministry said. Officials said the new method can deliver test results within five hours.

May 3rd, 2009 TORONTO - With swine flu cases rising sharply to 85, Canadian authorities Saturday confirmed the first case where pigs contracted the H1N1 virus from a man who had just returned from Mexico. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said this could be first case of human-to-animal transmission of the virus during the current global outbreak.

April 28th, 2009 SEOUL - South Korean authorities were investigating a possible case of a swine-flu infection Tuesday. An influenza infection was detected in a 51-year-old South Korean woman who returned from a trip to Mexico on the weekend, the Korean Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.