The confirmed infections with H1N1 (swine flu) in Egypt has reached 19 cases, the latest of which was an American child that was taken to the Cairo Fever Hospital yesterday for treatment. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said that the epidemic is under control. Also, doctors said there is no need to panic, as the virus is weak, contending that the mortality rate is 0.5%. Dr. Abdel Rahman Shahin, spokesman of the Ministry of Health, said the 4-year-old American child, who lives with his family in Cairo, has developed the symptoms on Friday, but his condition is currently stable in hospital. He said all the cases that were recorded in Egypt were of people coming from abroad, of which 8 have recovered and 11 are still being treated.
The quarantines in Cairo and the provinces have yesterday isolated 8 suspected cases. They are an Egyptian woman called Madiha Hassan Abdo, 53, coming from Jeddah, Mohamed Hassan, 4, and his mother, coming from the UAE, a Bulgarian girl child called Salina Zbinova in Hurghada, an Egyptian called Ahmed Ibrahim Abdel Moteleb, 11, from Zagazig, coming from America, Adel Francis Fanous, 45, at the Qalyubia Chest Hospital, a German female tourist called Karina, held in Nuweiba, an Egyptian girl called Dina Mohamed Abdel Fattah, 3, arriving with her mother from Kuwait. The American University has resumed classes yesterday, a week after closing when 7 students were infected. It said they have all recovered totally, and the quarantine was lifted from the hostel in Zamalek. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told reporters yesterday that the epidemic was under control and that the government is committed to announce all the facts. He called on the citizens to cooperate with the authorities, and urged them not to panic or listen to rumors. For his part, Dr. Hatem el-Gabali, Minister of Health, threatened to close the companies that smuggle the swine flu testing material and equipment, and to close the private laboratories that do swine flu tests. He told Parliament's Health Committee that these tests must be done at the central laboratories so that the government is fully informed of the situation.
Dr. Hamdi el-Sayed expected thousands of infections in Egypt in the coming weeks. He suggested that the Ministry of Health ask the hotels to accommodate the suspected cases that do not wish to go to the fever hospitals. Gabali told him sarcastically: "We will not provide them with high class accommodation." Globally, the World Health Organization predicted that 30% of the Jordanians would get infected if a pandemic occurred. Morocco announced its second case. 17 more cases were detected in Israel yesterday, bringing the total to 94. China reported 22 new cases yesterday, 11 in Hong Kong, 2 in Turkey and 3 in Saudi Arabia.
