Mexican Health Secretary Jose Cordova described the outbreak as being in decline in Mexico and authorities there have stated that they believe the virus’s most active period in Mexico was between April 23 and April 28. Health officials in Mexico have reported 568 cases and 22 deaths related to swine flu in their country as of late Sunday. WHO has confirmed 506 of those cases and 19 deaths. There are 898 confirmed cases throughout the world in a total of 18 countries. The United Stated has 226 confirmed swine flu cases in 30 states, they include 1 death.

The following countries have swine flu cases that have been confirmed by the WHO:

• Canada has 70 confirmed cases
• United Kingdom has 15
• Spain has 13
• Germany has 6
• New Zealand has 4
• Israel has 3
• France has 2
• Austria, China, South Korea, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Ireland each have one.

Officials in China have placed 68 people under quarantine, including 13 crew members of a Mexico City to Shanghai flight. The flight carried a passenger who tested positive for the 2009 H1N1 virus. A Chinese health official indicated that none of the other passengers has exhibited any flu-like symptoms. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported Sunday that approximately 110 other people on the Aeromexico plane went on to other destinations and may face quarantines elsewhere. Aeromexico planes have been barred from landing at Shanghai’s airport, as a result Aeromexico is suspending flights to Shanghai until May 15

New York has the highest number of confirmed cases, 63, within the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that the following states also have confirmed cases:

• Texas has 40
• California has 26
• Arizona 18
• South Carolina 15
• Delaware 10
• Massachusetts and New Jersey each have 7
• Colorado has 4
• Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin each have 3
• Connecticut, Kansas and Michigan each have 2
• Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Utah each have 1

An inmate at Centinela State Prison in Imperial County in California with suspected swine flu prompted officials in that state to suspended visitation and other “nonessential activities”. They are still waiting for the case to be confirmed with lab testing. Health officials in three states announced additional confirmed cases that were not included in the CDC total listed about. North Carolina and Pennsylvania announced their first confirmed swine flu cases and Louisiana’s governor said his state had seven confirmed cases. U.S. Secretary of Health, Kathleen Sebelius warned Sunday that even if the flu outbreak slows, “it could come back with greater force in the winter and fall, when we get into flu season.” she went on to say “this is no time for complacency”.

Researchers worked to develop a vaccine for swine flu, which is also known as 2009 H1N1. According to Michael Shaw, lab team leader for the H1N1 response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC hopes to have a vaccine to manufacturers within a month. “We’re doing the best we can as fast as we can,” he said. Even with the vaccine getting to manufacturers within a month, it would take four to six months from the time the appropriate strain is identified before the first doses become available, said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research. “Of course we would like to have a vaccine tomorrow. We would have wanted to have it yesterday,” she said. “It’s a long journey.” She said there is “no doubt” that a vaccine can be made “in a relatively short period of time.”

The steps involved in producing a vaccine involve isolating a strain of the swine flu virus, which has already been done. Once the strain is isolated, researchers need to tweak it so manufacturers can make a vaccine, Kieny said. The tweaked virus will be shipped to manufacturers, who will fine-tune it. Once that is complete, there will be more tests before national regulatory agencies decide whether or not they will approve a vaccine.

Authorities in Mexico are “beginning to see evidence that the swine flu virus might be letting up, and the number of people who have been hospitalized has leveled out in regards to people who are contagious, at least as of yesterday,” Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard told reporters. “We do have a problem, but I say this so that we know where we are as a city after we have done all we have done, and in what direction we are heading and how much we have progressed. And what I can say is that we are heading in the right direction.”

While Mexican authorities indicated at least 358 cases and 16 deaths in that country and suspect that more than 150 deaths have been caused by the swine flu. The WHO said there were 156 confirmed cases in Mexico.

The CDC gave the following state-by-state breakdown of the 141 confirmed H1N1 swine flu cases in the United States: Arizona, 4; California, 13; Colorado, 2; Delaware, 4; Illinois, 3; Indiana, 3; Kansas, 2; Kentucky, 1; Massachusetts, 2; Michigan, 2; Minnesota, 1; Nebraska, 1; Nevada, 1; New Jersey, 5; New York, 50; Ohio, 1; South Carolina, 16; Texas, 28; and Virginia, 2. One death in the United States has been attributed to swine flu — a toddler from Mexico whose family brought him to Texas for medical treatment.