April 27  One person in Spain has been confirmed as suffering from swine flu in Europe's first case of the disease, Health MinisterTrinidad Jimenez said.

A further 16 people are being tested for the flu, she said, adding that Spain has 10 million doses of anti-viral drugs, and that the situation is "under control." Both the confirmed case and possible infections involve people who had been in Mexico, where swine flu first broke out. The Spanish government advised against traveling to countries which had the disease, she said in a televised news conference today in Madrid.

The U.S. has declared swine flu, normally spread among pigs, a public health emergency after 20 people contracted the disease. More than 100 people have died of flu-related causes in Mexico, and at least 20 of those have been confirmed as swine flu cases. Australia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea are among countries screening travelers for fever, while Hong Kong raised its swine-flu response level to "serious" from "alert."

Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by a type-A influenza virus that regularly leads to outbreaks among the animals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Shares of Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, Spain's largest airline, dropped as much as 8.6 percent to its lowest since October amid concern that the swine-flu outbreak may prolong the global recession and reduce air travel. Sol Melia SA, the world's largest resort operator with a number of properties in Mexico, fell as much as 13 percent.