Qatar confirms new swine flu case

Qatar has confirmed a new case of swine flu, bringing the total number in the country to three.

The Minister of Health Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani said a 17 year-old Iraqi resident, who arrived in Doha from Washington on Saturday, was diagnosed as suffering from the H1N1 virus.

He has received treatment and is recovering, the minister told Qatar News Agency.

Qatar confirmed its first cases of the swine flu virus on Tuesday. Two young boys, travelling from the United States and Austria, were both diagnosed and subsequently treated.

Jordan has also increased the number of its confirmed cases, announcing three new ones on Wednesday.

Health Minister Nayef Al Fayez confirmed the country now has a total of five confirmed cases after two Palestinians and a Jordanian, who came from the US, tested positive, Jordan News Agency reported.

Jordan confirmed its first cases of the virus on Tuesday, after two girls, aged 11 and 17, tested positive when they arrived in the country from the US.

In Saudi Arabia, the number of cases has risen to 14, after a further three were confirmed by health chiefs, it emerged on Tuesday.

The kingdom’s Minister of Health said measures had been taken to combat the virus as a 13-year-old boy, an eight-month-old infant and a Filipina nurse all tested positive.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Ministry of Health is investigating claims that staff at some private hospitals and clinics have been illegally selling anti-swine flu drugs at up to eight times the normal price.

Staff are alleged to have offered patients Tamiflu tablets under the counter for as much as BD150 ($398) when a normal five day course costs BD18.73.

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