The first case of the new deadly flu strain in Britain has been confirmed in a patient who had not recently been to Mexico, health officials said today.
The man, from Falkirk in Scotland, is the tenth person in Britain to have tested positive for the new strain of Influenza A (H1N1) but the first in Britain to have contracted without having been to Mexico himself.
All those who had previously tested positive had recently travelled to Mexico, are said have mild symptoms and to be recovering well.
Graeme Pacitti (24), is a friend of couple Iain and Dawn Askham who returned from their Mexican honeymoon with the virus.
"I've said I actually started to feel better than I have all week just hearing that news, I'm quite gutted really," he told BBC television.
He said he started feeling ill last Saturday after meeting up with Mr Askham.
The Askhams believe they caught the virus on a flight back from Cancun in Mexico, during which several passengers were coughing and sneezing.
The couple returned to their home yesterday having been treated for five nights in separate isolation rooms at Monklands Hospital, Airdrie.
The Health Protection Agency said a ninth patient from the northwest of England had also been confirmed with the virus today while 642 others were under laboratory investigation.
The government has been stockpiling anti-viral doses and has adverts urging people to cover coughs and sneezes with tissues, throw them away and then wash their hands.
Reuters