Hamburg, Germany  - Contrary to conventional wisdom, fish oil supplements are not particularly helpful to cardiac patients who are already receiving optimal medical care, according to a team of German researchers.

Dr. Jochen Senges of the Heart Centre in Ludwigshafen and the University of Heidelberg in Germany said that omega-3 fatty acid supplements had no additional protective effect for heart attack patients receiving treatment.

Sydney  - Two Australians recently returned from a trip to Mexico are in a Queensland hospital with symptoms similar to the deadly swine flu, officials said Monday.

"We do have two cases overnight of people checking into hospital whose symptoms are being tested," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told reporters in Brisbane. "Clearly, this is a very serious disease, and we are taking it very seriously."

In Sydney, two people checked into hospital to have flu-like symptoms checked after returning from Mexico.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong health officials said Sunday they had stepped up surveillance at border control points as more swine flu cases were reported in Mexico and the US. Airlines had been asked to broadcast health advice on all direct flights from affected areas and passengers with symptoms have been asked to report to officers on arrival, the city's Centre for Health Protection said.

Mexico City/Geneva  - A spreading lethal virus that has claimed 68 lives in Mexico and infected at least 11 people in the United States prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to send out a global alarm Saturday.

WHO officials raised the possibility of an emerging pandemic even as countries in the region, including Nicaragua, Colombia and Brazil, tightened airport controls over people and goods arriving from Mexico.

Mexico City  - The death toll from a spreading wave of influenza in Mexico has climbed to 81, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos said Saturday evening.

Twenty of the lethal infections have been definitively linked to the newly emerging strain of swine flu, he said. All told, 1,324 people have been admitted to hospital for examination.

In the United States, 11 non-lethal cases of a similar strain of influenza have been identified by the Centres for Disease Control, with tests pending on another 10 cases.

Washington/Geneva - The Geneva-based World Health Organization Saturday declared the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and the United States a "public health emergency of international concern."At least 20 deaths in Mexico have been confirmed as swine flu, among a total of 60 deaths that have occurred there. Hundreds of more non-fatal cases have been reported, and schools, museums and other public places have been closed to prevent the spread.

In the United States, at least eight cases in Texas and California have been confirmed by the US Centres for Disease Control.