Saudi Arabia confirms two more swine flu cases

Two more cases of swine flu have been detected in Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to eight, the Ministry of Health has announced.

“The two new cases include one from the capital and one from Dammam,” Health Ministry spokesman Dr Khaled Mirghalani said, adding that both the persons involved arrived from the United States.

One person in Riyadh is being treated at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital (KFSH), while another patient in the Eastern Province has been admitted to the Saudi Aramco Hospital in Dhahran, Arab News reported on Sunday.

Mirghalani pointed out that all eight cases that have been detected in the kingdom involve people who came from abroad.

“The virus is being imported into the Kingdom,” Mirghalani stressed.

The first case detected was that of a Filipino nurse who came from Manila, followed by the case of a student who came from Washington.

The third was of a three-year-old toddler and, subsequently, his father and two sisters, aged five and seven, who are all being treated at Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital.

The spokesman said that all of the patients, except the first one, are under the care of specialist doctors at reputable hospitals equipped with modern facilities to cope with the onset of the flu virus.

The Filipino nurse, who is employed at KFSH, came to the Kingdom on May 29. She has since been discharged from hospital and has returned to work, the paper added.

Egypt also reported three new cases of swine flu on Saturday, as two children and a Colombian woman tested positive for the H1N1 virus, bringing to 18 the total number of people affected in the country.

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