Lagos — Nigeria has been listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), as one of the countries with PCR capacity in place to diagnose the Influenza A(H1N1) infections in humans.

WHO has said with effect from April 30, the new influenza virus hitherto called Swine Flu, had been renamed, "Influenza A(H1N1)," ostensibly because the influenza is transmitted from humans to humans and to avoid any misunderstanding of the nature of the influenza as it relates to pigs and pork.

As of 0600 GMT, May 3, 2009, 17 countries had officially reported 787 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection. Mexico had reported 506 confirmed human cases of infection, including 19 deaths.

The higher number of cases from Mexico in the past 48 hours reflects ongoing testing of previously collected specimens.

The United States Government has reported 160 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death. The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (70), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), France (2), Germany (6), Ireland (1), Israel (3), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (15).

So far as at yesterday, there is no reported case of the Influenza A(H1N1) in Nigeria.