 On 27 April 2009 , the European Union health commissioner advised Europeans to postpone nonessential travel to the United States or Mexico . This followed the discovery of the first confirmed case in Spain . On 6 May 2009 , the Public Health Agency of Canada announced that their National Microbiology Laboratory ( NML ) had mapped the genetic code of the swine flu virus , the first time that had been done . In the U.K. , the National Health Service launched a website , the National Pandemic Flu Service , allowing patients to self @-@ assess and get an authorisation number for antiviral medication . The system was expected to reduce the burden on general practitioners . 
