Filipinos in Austria expressed concern over the spread of swine flu that has reportedly reached several countries around the world including Austria.

Avelina Santos, a nurse working at the Vienna General Hospital, advised fellow Filipinos to take precautions to protect themselves and their families from the virus.

“Mahirap ng magkaroon ng swine flu virus, lalo na ngayon at may biglaang paglamig at biglaang pag-init din ng panahon. Most important to avoid ay yung mga malakihang pagtitipon, since one is not sure where the virus is,” Santos said.

The Austrian Health Ministry reported that a woman is the country’s first case of swine flu. Austria has become the ninth country in the world to be hit by the virus.

Reports said the 28-year-old woman arrived in Vienna Monday night after vacationing in Guatemala to visit her parents. It was reported that the woman was likely infected with the H1N1 virus in Guatemala. She is at the moment under quarantine at Vienna’s Franz Josef hospital.

Some of the symptoms reportedly do not differ from the normal seasonal flu that includes high temperature, coughing, joint aches and headaches. There is also, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.

Hotel worker Lando Anastaciom however, is still confident that Austria is prepared to prevent the virus from further spreading.

“Of course, this is a very sensitive health problem which is now spreading worldwide. Though, Austria is ready to combat the outbreak of the swine flu here, it is written in the daily newspapers, also in TV and radio that the country has stocks of more than 40,000 doses of the flu vaccine Tamiflu and more than 2,000,000 face masks are in a storage depot,” Anastacio said.

Agence France Presse reported that based on the World Health Organization, the countries with confirmed swine flu infections are the United States 91, Mexico 26, Canada 13, Germany 3, Britain 5, Israel 2, New Zealand 3, Spain 4, and Austria 1.

Other countries that also confirmed swine flu cases are Costa Rica 1, Peru 1, and Switzerland 1.

Austrian officials have advised their countrymen to avoid non-essential travel to both Mexico and parts of the United States.

Meanwhile, Austria’s two largest travel agencies have already cancelled all its flights to Mexico City. Report from Hector Pascua, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau