|
Omar Hasan
May 24, 2009 - 11:14PM Eighteen US soldiers have tested positive for swine flu at an American
military base in Kuwait and have left the Gulf emirate, a Kuwaiti health
official said on Sunday.
"All the 18 soldiers have left Kuwait. They had normal symptoms of the
disease and were given the necessary medication," the deputy chief of
Kuwait's public health department, Yussef Mendkar, told AFP. Mendkar said the US soldiers had "had no contact whatsoever with the
local population," and that the oil-rich state remained free of A(H1N1)
influenza. The health ministry announced on Saturday that swine flu cases had been
detected among US soldiers who were transiting through Kuwait. Undersecretary of Health Ibrahim al-Abdulhadi had earlier told the
official KUNA news agency that the soldiers were immediately isolated at
the US base in Arifjan, 70 kilometres (about 40 miles) south of the capital. Abdulhadi reiterated at a press conference on Sunday that Kuwait was
absolutely free of the disease. "Kuwait is totally free of swine flu. We have not had any case or
suspected case in the country, with the exception of the cases at the US
military base, which is far away from the city," he said. Abdulhadi said the infected US soldiers came from the United States
through a military airport and not through Kuwait's main civilian airport. He added that an unspecified number of US soldiers at Arifjan base who
came in contact with the infected soldiers have been "examined and
isolated at the base." A Kuwaiti health ministry team will visit the base on Monday to assess
the situation. The emirate has more than 2.35 million foreign residents alongside its
citizen population of 1.1 million. On April 29 it began screening all arrivals from countries with
confirmed cases of swine flu. About 15,000 US soldiers are stationed in Kuwait, which is also used as
a transit point for thousands of US soldiers going to and from
neighbouring Iraq. The US embassy in Kuwait said it was aware of the swine flu cases but
did not elaborate on where the soldiers had been infected. The number of confirmed swine flu infections around the world stood at
12,022 on Saturday, including 86 deaths, according to the World Health
Organisation. Arab countries in the Gulf region, which have millions of foreign
workers, have so far not reported any confirmed cases of swine flu. But the United Arab Emirates on Friday took a passenger who flew in from
Canada for medical checks after he showed suspected symptoms. The
results have yet to be announced. Authorities in the region have stepped up surveillance of travellers at
airports, with Kuwait, Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi installing thermal cameras.
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites  |
