Mexico City/Havana - Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Tuesday that the epidemic of the new A(H1N1) influenza virus has been dealt with transparently from the first instance it became known to Mexican authorities. Calderon said the government "acted with determination, with promptness and with one single priority, which is and will always be to protect the health and the life of Mexicans."
He did not mention historic Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who had accused Mexico of not telling other countries earlier about the ongoing influenza epidemic due to the visit of US President Barack Obama.
"Mexican authorities did not inform the world about the presence of the (epidemic) because they were awaiting Obama's visit. Now they threaten to suspend President Calderon's visit to Cuba," Castro wrote.
Obama visited Mexico in mid-April, shortly before the swine flu outbreak caused worldwide concern.
The new virus has claimed 58 lives in Mexico, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos said Tuesday, while 2,282 people have been infected.
Calderon was set to visit Cuba in mid-2009 but said that the trip might be cancelled, in a comment seen as a reaction to Havana's actions over the flu virus.
Cuba was the first country to suspend flights to and from Mexico - five flights a day to Mexico City and Cancun - to slow the spread of the A(H1N1) virus. Argentina, Ecuador and Peru followed.
Castro, 82, wondered what Calderon "was complaining about."
"Now we appear as unfair, not based on technical elements, a country that is hostile to the Mexican people," Castro complained.
The Cuban Public Health Ministry confirmed late Monday the island's first case of the new strain of flu, in a Mexican exchange student. A statement from the ministry said the infection was detected through special monitoring of Mexican students returning to Cuba after Easter break.
State-run television said that two students were hospitalized and quarantined, while 14 others with mild symptoms of colds or flu were under observation.
Cuban health officials previously examined 84 people from eight nationalities for possible infection from the new influenza strain, along with 511 Cuban patients. All tested negative for the virus, officials said.
"The carrier is a young Mexican citizen who studies medicine in our country," Castro said. "The only thing we can say for now is that he was not brought in by the CIA. He came from Mexico."
The Colombian Social Protection Ministry on Tuesday confirmed three new infections of the new virus, bringing Colombia's total to six confirmed cases. Spokesman Jose Cardona said the three new cases are in residents of the Casanare region in eastern Colombia, ages 17- 26, who recently visited the Florida in the United States.
"When they returned they had acute respiratory symptoms, so they consulted with a doctor," Cardona said.
He said that the three were being treated in their homes and were recovering well.
The number of suspected cases of the so-called swine flu rose to 182 in Colombia, including four patients who are considered likely to have contracted the virus from contact with people with confirmed cases.
Earlier Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there were 5,251 cases of A(H1N1) influenza in 30 countries with 61 deaths.
The United States reported 2,600 cases and three deaths, and Canada had 330 confirmed cases with one death. Costa Rica reported one death among eight cases.
