A global race to prepare a vaccine against swine flu is under way as health officials confirm that the disease had spread to at least seven countries.
The World Health Organization has contacted vaccine manufacturers, who are on standby to produce the vaccine should the virus continue to spread.
A WHO spokesman said it had not yet advised pharmaceutical companies to begin producing a vaccine, but he confirmed that work had already begun at collaborating laboratories in the US.
British scientists at the Health Protection Agency's high containment laboratories in Potters Bar, north London, are due to receive samples of the fresh virus today. They will spend the next three to four weeks making it safe but it will take a further three to five months before it will be ready as a vaccine.
Two British scientists have been successful at creating a vaccine, however if you notice in the photo below or attached, there is just a small slight side effect:
