India on Monday reported one more swine flu case in Hyderabad, taking to 7 the number of those affected by influenza A (H1N1) and 11 in India. Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said there was no need to panic as all precautions had been taken against the spread of the virus.
A health official said one more swine flu case had been reported in Delhi on Monday.
A 35-year-old man, who tested positive for influenza A (H1N1) and is being treated, transmitted the virus to his mother – making it the first human-to-human transmission case in the national capital, the official said.
“Yes, we now have a total of 11 cases in the country. The 35-year-old man who tested positive Sunday has transmitted the virus to his mother,” Shiv Lal, the head of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), told IANS.
Chairing a high-level meeting with senior officials, the Health Minister said the ministry has made a “lot of arrangements” and “airport screening would be tightened”.
“There is no reason for panic because we have taken all the precautions,” he told reporters.
As more cases are being reported, Azad said the government had decided to activate 16 more laboratories to test for the swine flu virus in addition to the existing two in Delhi and Pune.
He said special caution has to be exercised as the infection has now, in one or two cases, spread from humans to humans.
“The Health Ministry already has the labs, but they are for testing different diseases. They would be prepared for H1N1 flu also and the lab technicians and doctors would be trained within a week,” the minister said.
Azad said that the government has sent a rapid action team to Andhra Pradesh where the first human to human transmission of swine flu was reported, but added that it was not enough.
“We will set up state-level rapid action forces of medical personnel to deal with the viral ailment,” he added.
He said passengers, especially from the US, Mexico, Dubai and Canada, are being checked at all the 21 international airports.
According to Lal, the woman who got the virus from her 35-year-old son, is in “home quarantine”.
The woman’s 35-year-old son had reached Delhi from New York June 2 and tested positive for the flu.
“He developed flu-like symptoms two days after reaching Delhi and tested positive for it. The man is on home quarantine and his contacts have been provided with medicine,” the official said.
–IANS