Around the World: United Kingdom

'100,000 H1N1 cases daily'

Britain's health minister Andy Burnham says the country could have 100,000 new cases of H1N1 flu every day by August.

Britain has officially reported 7,747 cases and three deaths, but officials acknowledge the real number of H1N1 flu cases is far higher, since many cases are not identified.

Britain is Europe's hardest-hit nation, and many flu experts have said numbers could jump exponentially now that the virus is entrenched. Because H1N1 is a new virus, few people have any natural immunity, allowing the virus to spread rapidly.

(China Daily 07/03/2009 page16)