Argentina declares alert as pigs found with swine flu

Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 9:38 PM Posted by Beijing News


Argentina issued a nationwide alert on Friday after pigs in the country were confirmed to have the swine flu virus, health authorities said.

"We have detected clinical cases of the AH1N1 influenza in a pig farm in Buenos Aires province, they have been confirmed by laboratory tests," the national farm and food standards agency Senasa, said.

Thousands of people have contracted the virus in Argentina and 137 people in the country have died.

Senasa said the outbreak announced on Friday was the second time the disease had been found in pigs in Argentina -- the first case of infection in pigs was detected in June in the same Argentine province.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation said it would stop providing regular updates on the number of people affected worldwide, as the virus continues its march.

The WHO said in an information note on its website Friday that it would focus on regular updates from newly-affected countries, in order to keep track of the global progress of the AH1N1 virus.

The influenza pandemic has "spread internationally with unprecedented speed," according to the Geneva-based UN public health agency.

In the last official figures it provided on July 6, the health agency recorded 94,512 cases in 136 countries and territories since April, including 429 deaths.





Cacace

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