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(WASHINGTON) — The airline with most flights from the United States to Mexico cut back travel to the center of the swine flu outbreak on Friday as the federal government confirmed more than two dozen new cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the virus was confirmed in eight more states overnight but the death toll stayed at one — the Mexican toddler who died in Texas. The agency said there were now 141 confirmed cases in the U.S., up from 109 on Thursday. The flu is now in 19 states, up from 11, according to federal figures. Separately a few states reported slightly higher numbers.
Federal health authorities sought to reassure the public that — aside from people with flu symptoms or nonessential travel plans to Mexico — public transportation remained safe. "There's not an increased risk there," Dr. Richard Besser, acting CDC director, said Friday. "If you have the flu or flu-like symptoms, you shouldn't be getting on an airplane or you shouldn't be getting in the subway, but for the general population that's quite fine to do," he said.
Houston-based Continental Airlines, which has over 500 flights per week between the U.S. and Mexico, became the first U.S. carrier to curtail service. Many travelers have become increasingly concerned about going to Mexico, though authorities there said new cases and the death rate was leveling off.
Mexico has confirmed 300 swine flu cases but stopped reporting suspected infections when the number approached 2,500. There have been a dozen confirmed deaths there from the flu, although reports have indicated that roughly 120 may have died from it. "We were already experiencing soft market conditions due to the economy, and now our Mexico routes in particular have extra weakness," Continental Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Kellner said in a statement Friday.
It wasn't immediately clear whether other airlines would follow Continental's lead. "We are hearing that there is a softening of demand to and from Mexico," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transportation Association, which represents airlines.
Clinics and hospital emergency rooms in New York, California and some other states are seeing a surge in patients with coughs and sneezes that might have been ignored before the outbreak.
（华盛顿）周五,随着美国政府确认多达30个新病例之后,国泰航空大规模地削减了从美国飞往墨西哥猪流感疫情中心的班次.
疾病防控中心说，一夜之间,该病毒已在8个以上的州得到证实，但死亡人数仍然是1人. -得克萨斯州的墨西哥儿童死于猪流感。该机构说，美国现已发现的病例是141人，而周四的人数是109人。禽流感已经从11个州发展至目前的19个州，根据联邦的数字统计,另外几个州的数量比报道的要多得多.
联邦卫生当局安抚市民说,除了感染禽流感的人或没必要去墨西哥旅行之外,公共交通仍然是安全的。周五,疾病防控中心执行主任理查德贝瑟博士说，“公共交通还是安全的” “如果你有流感或类似流感的症状，你就不应该登飞机,你就不应该钻地铁，我们这么做是有益于大众的.”
总部位于休斯顿的大陆航空公司,每周往返于美国与墨西哥之间多达500个航次，成为第一个削减航运服务的公司。尽管当局表示，新的病例和死亡率保持稳定,但是,许多游客还是担心去墨西哥旅行的危险.
墨西哥已确认300猪流感病例，当感染人数达到2,500的时候,他们不再报告怀疑感染的人数。已得到证实死于禽流感的是12人,尽管有报道说可能有大约120人死于流感。周五,大陆董事长兼首席执行长拉里凯尔纳在一份声明中说,
“由于经济下滑，我们的市场已经疲软了,现在我们的墨西哥航线，更感到虚弱难支了” .
目前还不清楚是否还有其他的航空公司跟风。 “我们听说来往墨西哥的航线客运量已经下降了.”代表航空公司的航空运输协会发言人大卫卡斯特卫特说道.
纽约州，加州和其他州的诊所和医院急症室涌进了很多患有咳嗽和打喷嚏的患者，而这种现象很可能在疫情爆发之前被忽略了.
