Swine Flu: Leaflets to be sent to UK households
Leaflets about the deadly swine flu virus are to be distributed to all households across the UK as fears grow about the scale of the outbreak.
The Department of Health (DH) last night confirmed it would be issuing the leaflets next week containing information about the virus and "preventative messages".
The DH also said it was in talks to "urgently increase current stockpiles" of surgical face masks.
The extra masks would be used by health professionals such as nurses and doctors working with infected patients in the event of a pandemic.
Health officials are bracing themselves for the emergence of more suspected cases of the virus.
The first two British cases were confirmed on Monday with further possible cases emerging yesterday.
Four in 10 Britons could catch the virus within the next six months, leading health officials have said.
Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) taskforce which raised the alert over the outbreak to level four, said 40% of people in the UK could be infected if the country was hit by a pandemic.
But Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain was "among the best prepared countries in the world" and added that the Government was taking "all the urgent action that is necessary" to help prevent the spread of the virus.
The Government's Cobra emergencies committee, involving both Mr Brown and Health Secretary Alan Johnson, met to discuss the issue as Britons were warned to avoid all but essential travel to Mexico.
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