(For full coverage of the flu outbreak, click [nFLU]) MEXICO CITY, May 1 (Reuters) - China sent medical supplies to Mexico to help fight a flu epidemic that has killed up to 176 people, and more aid will be arriving next week, China's Ambassador to Mexico Yin Hengmin said. The $3 million shipment arrived by plane on Friday and included millions of protective masks and 80 infrared scanners that can be used to detect fever in travelers as they pass through airports and bus stations. The number of new cases of the H1N1 swine flu virus emerging in Mexico appeared to be falling, Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said on Friday. However, in Mexico City, many offices and businesses were closed for a five-day break to help slow the spread of the new flu stain. Mexico has been hardest hit by the virus now confirmed in 13 countries. The World Health Organization has said it would call the new virus strain Influenza A (H1N1), not "swine flu," since is no evidence that pigs have the virus or can transmit it to humans. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has sent Mexico material for making quick diagnostic tests so scientists there can quickly screen people for the new flu. [N30275206] (Reporting by Jason Lange, editing by Jackie Frank)
Dr Alan Hay, director of the World Influenza Centre, speaks at a news conference at the National Institute of Medical Research in London May 1, 2009. A British health official confirmed ...
