Canada's health minister Wednesday warned businesses to prepare now for a late 2009 swine flu surge, particularly small- and medium-sized firms that have so far lagged behind large corporations.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq told a press conference most large firms have already begun to address looming "business continuity issues," but many smaller companies have no plans in place, due largely to a lack of resources.

"We know that during a pandemic, all countries are affected and international spread is rapid," she said.

"We also know that economic and social disruption could occur, to what extent, we can't be sure. It is crucial, therefore, that the business world is ready in the event of a more severe second wave of H1N1 in the fall."

"Canada's businesses need to be able to plan to ensure business continuity and employees' health and welfare in such an emergency."

To help smaller firms, the Public Health Agency of Canada has contracted the International Centre for Infectious Disease and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce to develop a communication plan for employees, strategies for coping with high absenteeism and other tools for some 300,000 firms in Canada, Aglukkaq said.

The cost of the initiative is 926,000 Canadian dollars (851,000 US).

It is expected to bolster what information is already available to firms that, she noted, however, tends to be "very detailed, complex, and seemingly overwhelmingly difficult to translate into an operational plan and response."

Canada has been among the hardest hit by the swine flu, with 66 deaths so far attributed to the virus. Most of the Canadian cases, however, have been mild, and the number of new cases slowed in recent summer months.

Brazil swine flu deaths soar to almost 200

Brazil's swine flu death toll has soared to almost 200, Health Minister Jose Temporao said Tuesday.

His new figure of 192 was double the figure given by the health ministry last Wednesday, although a tally of individual states last week already came to 132 deaths.

If confirmed by the World Health Organization, the new toll would mean Brazil — population 190 million — has overtaken Mexico to become the country with the third largest number of fatalities from the A(H1N1) virus, after the United States and Argentina.

The bulk of the victims died in southern Brazil, where the southern hemisphere's winter is at its peak.

According to Health Ministry figures, 40 percent of the victims were from Sao Paulo state; 23 percent were from Rio Grande do Sul state, which borders on Argentina and Uruguay, and 22 percent were from Parana, which borders on Argentina and Paraguay.

Temporao provided the information in testimony to Congress explaining the government's approach to the pandemic.

Seventy-seven percent of the serious flu cases currently in Brazil were caused by the A(H1N1) virus, Temporao said.

Meanwhile, Mexico also has seen an increase in swine flu deaths, from 149 to 162, health officials said Tuesday.

Mexico once was considered the epicenter of the swine flu outbreak but it has been surpassed in the number of fatal cases by the United States (353), Brazil (192) and Argentina (165).

Officials in Canada, meanwhile, announced two new deaths, bringing the number of fatal cases there to 66.

The World Health Organization reports that the virus has killed 1,462 people around the world, according to official tallies, with 177,457 falling ill in some 170 countries.

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