All Nature’s swine flu coverage is collected on our news special page. These regular updates on The Great Beyond round up the latest from other news sources around the globe.

Swine flu is strengthening its foothold in Asia this week. H1N1 has reached one of the world’s most populous cities, Tokyo, and the total number of official WHO-listed cases in Japan is likely to have topped 300 by the time you read this.

With media reports claiming the country is in ‘crisis mode’, health officials moved to reassure on Friday by stating the virus causes only mild cases in most instances. AFP reports that some restrictions related to the flu have been eased.

But as Mexico lifts its remaining restrictions on people in its capital, Australia is going in the opposite direction. The country raised its alert level to ‘Contain’ on Friday, giving authorities wider powers to respond to H1N1 cases.

“The raising of the alert level to CONTAIN recognises that Australia has a small number of swine flu cases and at least one human-to-human transmission,” said Nicola Roxon, the Minister for Health and Ageing (pdf). “It is important to remember that while the official alert level has been raised, there are still only a small number of confirmed cases in Australia, and the symptoms people are experiencing are relatively mild.”

I will leave you with these lines from the WHO, contained in their recent High-Level Consultation report:

It remains uncertain how fast the new influenza A virus will spread throughout the world and whether it will become widely established.

It remains uncertain whether the infectivity and virulence of the new influenza A virus will change over time.

The only thing certain about influenza viruses is that nothing is certain.

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