President Barack Obama yesterday sought an extra $1.5bn (£1bn, €1.1bn) from Congress as the US sharply stepped up its response to the growing spread of swine flu from Mexico around the world.
He called for a substantial increase in funding to help build stockpiles of antiviral drugs, work on vaccines and strengthen international co-operation as other countries escalated measures against a likely global pandemic.
The US said the number of infections had risen to 64 across five states including likely transmission between people outside Mexico, while Israel and New Zealand also reported the first confirmed cases in Asia and the Middle East.