Ethiopian Review

Five new cases of Americans infected with swine flu were discovered at a Cairo university dormitory on Tuesday, Egypt’s health ministry said, bringing the total number of cases there to seven.

The American University of Cairo (AUC) residence in the upscale neighbourhood of Zamalek was quarantined on Monday after two American students were found to be infected with the A(H1N1) virus.

The dormitory’s 110 students from 10 nationalities, as well as 124 workers and lecturers who use the building, were tested following the outbreak and the university announced it would suspend classes until Sunday June 14.

The new cases are Americans — a woman and four men aged 20-26 — who had been in contact with the original two infections, Nasser el-Sayyed, assistant minister for preventative medicine, told journalists.

“The dormitory will remain under quarantine for a week until no more cases are detected. We will provide all facilities they need including food and communication around the clock,” Sayyed said.

A ministry official has taken up residence in the dorm to monitor possible infections around the clock. The first two AUC cases were a woman who arrived from New Jersey via New York and London, and a man from Florida who came via New York.

The latest cases bring the number of swine flu infections in Egypt to eight. The government undertook a controversial cull of the country’s estimated 250,000 pigs after reports of outbreaks in other countries.

The authorities have stepped up checks of travellers at airports, quarantining suspected cases in makeshift centres.

On June 2, a 12-year-old girl who arrived from the United States became the first confirmed case of swine flu in Egypt and in Africa.

An Egyptian mother and her two children who arrived from Italy, as well as a Malaysian arriving from Saudi Arabia, were quarantined on Tuesday after a thermal scanner at Cairo airport detected high body temperatures, MENA said.

Egypt is already battling the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed 27 people since it was first reported in 2006.

Swine flu has now spread to 73 countries with 25,288 people known to have been infected and 139 to have died since the disease was uncovered in April, the WHO said on Monday.

- AFP