Tourists fleeing Mexico, say Aussies

Australians living in Mexico say tourists have started leaving the country because of the swine flu outbreak.

Queenslander Brooke Skuse, who lives in the beachside surfing mecca Puerto Escondido with her husband and baby, says she knows of at least two groups who have packed up to go home as the swine flu death toll climbs.

"There is a big Christian mission team working here at an orphanage that are returning home one month early," Ms Skuse said.

She was told an Australian tourist had changed her travel plans and would leave the country tomorrow, while the rest of the town stocked up on face masks and antiseptic hand wash.

"We're all hoping for the best, we have a lot of foreign friends from Canada, the United States, Germany, and they've all got kids and they're all worried about it but hoping for the best," she said.

The 28-year-old said she still planned to take her one-year-old daughter Kayli to playgroup tomorrow but mothers and babies with flu symptoms had been asked to stay away.

"It's a bit scary when you've got kids," Ms Skuse said.

"We're just doing what would be common sense, washing your hands as much as you can with antibacterial soap or apple vinegar.

"I'm trying not to go out too much. I try and stay indoors because it's safer not to be in contact with so many people."

She has also stopped buying fruit and vegetables from the market and was buying from supermarkets instead.

Ms Skuse's parents, Pam and Alan, also live in Mexico.

They run Mission Mexico, an orphanage about 11 hours' drive away in the southern border town of Tapachula in Chiapas state.

The Skuses say they've not been able to buy face masks or antibacterial products for their 50 charges.

No cases of swine influenza have been recorded in Tapachula but the Chiapas state government shut down all schools on Monday nevertheless.

"We've got nearly 50 children here and we are dosing them all up with vitamins," Mrs Skuse said.

"We tried to buy face masks today. Everyone's wearing them in the city, but they're all sold out.

"We can't even get any [antiseptic] gel to clean our hands."

A 17-year-old boy at the orphanage had flu symptoms and was wearing one of the four spare masks the couple could find, she said.

"This morning when I took the older boy out he sneezed in the shop but he lifted the mask to sneeze and the shopkeeper was horrified and told him, 'Don't take it off,' " Mrs Skuse said.

"It's not in our local area yet ... I'm just about to check on the internet to see what the latest report is, to see if it's made it down this way yet.

"I imagine it would have by now because it's spreading through the country and I think it's going to escalate pretty rapidly."