ISRAEL: Sharp rise in swine flu cases
TEL AVIV, 2 June 2009 (IRIN) - There has been a sharp rise in the number of confirmed cases of A(H1N1) influenza, commonly known as swine flu, in Israel. As of 2 June, 34 cases of the virus had been confirmed; 24 patients have been diagnosed with the disease in the last six days, according to the Health Ministry.
Most cases have been among passengers returning to Israel from the USA, Mexico or Canada. However, most of the very recent cases are Israelis infected in Israel by returning passengers who had not been diagnosed with the disease at the airport, according to the Health Ministry’s Itamar Grotto, implying that secondary infections had taken place.
Israel currently accounts for well over half of all the cases reported in the Middle East. Lebanon reported three cases on 30 May, bringing the number of cases in the Middle East excluding Israel to 23, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) update on 31 May. No cases of A(H1N1) have been diagnosed in Gaza or the West Bank, and no A(H1N1)-related deaths have been reported in the region, WHO said.
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