A statue of Edgar Hernandez Hernandez, a boy who is believed to have been the first person in the world to be infected with the (A)H1N1 virus, was unveiled on August 16, 2009, in a community in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    MEXICO CITY, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government was seeking to borrow 400 million U.S. dollars from the World Bank to finance anti-A/H1N1 flu measures for the winter, a Health Ministry official told media on Wednesday.

    If the loan is granted, the money will be used to update the National Epidemiological Vigilance System's computer network and to buy vaccines and treatments to refill the nation's strategic medicine reserve.

    Mexico was the first nation to confirm the new strain of A/H1N1flu in April this year. Since then, nearly 1,800 people have died worldwide and more than 181,000 people have been infected with the disease.

    South American nations enter their winter in July, and there has been a sharp increase in infections in this period.

Special Report:  World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu