7 May 2009, 24 countries have officially reported 2371 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.

Mexico has reported 1112 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 42 deaths. The United States has reported 896 laboratory confirmed human cases, including two deaths.

As of 7 May 2009, 18:00 GMT

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths – Austria (1), Canada (201), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (5), Germany (10), Guatemala (1), Ireland (1), Israel (6), Italy (5), Netherlands (2), New Zealand (5), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (3), Spain (81), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (32).

The fatality would mark the 3rd in North America outside the Mexican hot zone.

Reports emerged Thursday night that an elderly woman who had swine flu has died in northern Alberta.

It’s not clear whether she had any other underlying conditions.

CBC News put the question to Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert at 2:30 p.m. MT Thursday, and he stated then that he had no information about the case.

There are 214 confirmed cases of swine flu in Canada, including 33 in Alberta, the Public Health Agency of Canada says. Cases have been detected in every region except Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northern territories, with most cases found in B.C., Ontario, Nova Scotia and Alberta.

Almost all Canadian cases have been mild.

Worldwide, there are now 2,371 confirmed cases of swine flu in 24 countries, according to the World Health Organization. Forty-four people have died of the infection — 42 in Mexico and two in the United States.

On Thursday, Saskatchewan announced its first two cases of swine flu.

The latest CDC figures bring the number of confirmed worldwide cases to 853.

The World Health Organization reported 787 cases of swine flu, known to scientists as influenza A (H1N1), before the latest U.S. numbers. The WHO said the virus has been confirmed in 17 countries and has contributed to 20 deaths, 19 of them in Mexico.

New York has the most confirmed U.S. cases, with 63; Texas is second, with 40; and California is third, with 26. A Texas case — a Mexican toddler who was visiting relatives in the United States — is the only U.S. fatality.

The controversy is how dangerous the H1N1 Virus Swine Flu is: the mortality rate in Mexico continues to drop, where the number of confirmed cases wordlwide seems to be trending upwards at a fairly dramatic rate. The question is, will this trend upward allow for a quick enough mutation of the H1N1 Virus/Swine Flu that will increase the mortality rate? It seems its a race against time to create a vaccine and distribute it worldwide before the vaccine becomes worthless due to either the H1N1 virus being too widespread, or mutated too far to have any effect.