The Americas recorded a death toll rise of 554 cases in one week, while Europe saw an 85 percent jump in cases, where deaths increased from 350 to more than 650 in the week. The jump in northern hemisphere cases corresponds with the onset of winter and the flu season there.

Mutated strains of the virus have also been discovered, with health authorities in Norway and France each recording two fatalities from a mutated strain of H1N1. China, Japan, Norway, Ukraine and the USA have also recorded cases of people being infected with a mutated strain.

“What we’re trying to do when we see reports of mutations is to identify if these mutations are leading to any kinds of changes in the clinical picture – do they cause more severe or less severe disease?” said Keiji Fukuda, WHO special adviser on pandemic influenza. “Also we’re trying to see if these viruses are increasing out there as that would suggest a change in epidemiology.”

WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan has called for international solidarity to provide equitable access to pandemic influenza vaccine for all countries. Final preparations are underway to distribute donated pandemic influenza vaccines to 95 low- and middle-income countries to help prevent severe disease.

In September, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Health Minister Nicole Roxon pledged to donate up to 10 percent of our pandemic (H1N1) vaccine to the WHO for use in Pacific Island countries, including Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith welcomes New Zealand’s support, which will enable the purchase of syringes and sharps bins.

“Trans-Tasman collaboration on this issue reflects a shared recognition of the challenges faced by developing countries in responding to pandemics,” he said in a statement. “Australia and New Zealand will continue to coordinate closely with the WHO to ensure vaccines reach the people who need them the most.”

US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke called the recent US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade “productive” and said it “builds a foundation for a most successful visit by President Obama in two weeks”.

Topics discussed included piracy, agricultural products and a tariff dispute over Chinese tyres. China has removed a ban on US pork products, which they had imposed earlier in the year during the ‘swine flu’ (A(H1N1) virus) outbreak and promised to look into internet piracy of US movies and music. The USA has in turn eased restrictions on Chinese poultry products, though was not specific about the tyre importation issue.

Locke said it was critical that the two countries make progress, “to demonstrate to our citizens and to the entire world that China and the United States can work together to achieve results”.

Just over one in 10 respondents indicated swine flu discouraged them from travelling, whereas 27 percent of respondents said current economic conditions made them less likely to travel.

“The current economic conditions are also having an impact on business travel with 39 percent of respondents cutting back on flights and accommodation,” added Tony Stuart, CEO of NRMA Motoring & Services Group.

The quarterly survey also showed an upswing in consumer sentiment, with 77 percent of respondents seeing the next 12 months as a good time to travel, a five percent rise from the May survey.

The survey included responses from 1,300 NRMA members.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon and US President Barack Obama agreed to combine their efforts to fight swine flu, which they expect to affect their people once again in the Northern Hemisphere winter.

They also addressed the issue of drug cartels that have been responsible for a number of murders, with all three countries pledging extra resources to combat the gangs.

However Obama and Calderon were unable to overcome a trucking dispute where the US have cancelled a program allowing Mexican trucks in the country, which saw Mexico hit back with $2.4 billion in tariffs on US goods, both breaching the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The three leaders also agreed to develop a joint position on climate change and cutting greenhouse gas emissions to take to the United Nations Copenhagen summit in December.

Victoria has the highest incidence of A(H1N1) virus cases in Australia, which has adversely affected visitor numbers to its major tourist attractions such as Phillip Island and Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill.

Phillip Island recorded a fall of 40 percent in Chinese tourists following the first diagnosis of swine flu in May. Of the 700,000 visitors to Phillip Island, more than half were international tourists, 90,000 of whom came from China.

“The problem is many potential visitors are not actually overly concerned about getting swine flu, but what they are worried about is being quarantined for a lengthy period of time if they do get it,” said Mark Manteit, CEO of Phillip Island Nature Parks.

Sovereign Hill has suffered a drop of 60-70 percent in Chinese tourist numbers, which had totalled around 60,000 a year.

“Swine flu has just knocked China right off the radar in terms of inbound tourism,” said Jeremy Johnson, CEO of Sovereign Hill. He says it is vital for the state and federal governments to issue safety messages about visiting the state.

Australian cases passed 9,000 at the weekend, with 19 deaths.

Health authorities have ordered 21 million doses of a swine flu vaccine, which WHO says will be released in September.

“We need to do some trials to make sure it’s safe, so we’re saying by October we should be able to start a program, but that depends really on manufacture being successful,” said chief medical officer Jim Bishop.

According to WHO, the virus has shown some resistance to the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) based on laboratory testing but remains sensitive zanamivir.

Bishop says the virus could have a run on effect as the northern hemisphere enters flu season before a vaccine can be rolled out: “We’re more concerned about the second wave of this thing, which might be more severe than the first.”

Australia leads the Asia-Pacific region with 5,298 cases, while Britain has recorded the most cases in Europe, 7,447.

The flu, which originated in North America, has now spread to 136 countries.

Argentina recorded the highest death rate over the weekend, with 34 fatalities since WHO’s last report on Friday and a total death toll of 60. Its death toll is now the world’s third highest behind the USA (170) and Mexico (119).

Some countries do not track all cases, which means the number of people with the virus may have already passed 100,000.

The WTO has revised its forecast of trade volumes: developed economies will contract by 14 percent, up from 10 percent, and developing economies will contract by seven percent, more than double an earlier forecast of a three-percent shrinkage.

The body’s latest assessment also included a stern warning, observing an increase in protectionist measures: “In the past three months, there has been further slippage towards more trade restricting and distorting policies.”

Protectionism has also incxreased as a result of the A(H1N1) virus, also known as swine flu, which has introduced barriers relating to pork products from swine flu-affected countries despite the absence of a link between the human virus and pig-related products.

The number of confirmed cases surged by more than 11,000 since WHO’s last bulletin on Friday, and deaths rose by 48 over the same period. The USA accounted for more than half of the new cases, and 21 deaths.

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention used computer modelling and community surveys to estimate that about 1 million people in the country had swine flu, about 50 times more than official figures due to cases not being reported.

Swine flu cases in Australia also jumped significantly, with 758 new cases and four deaths recorded. The total infection rate is now 4,038 confirmed cases and seven deaths.