Three people have tested positive for swine flu in Egypt, bringing the number of reported infections to fifteen, including four Egyptians, the Ministry of Health reported on Friday. The three - two Egyptians and a Syrian - had recently come from abroad. In an emergency meeting on Thursday, the World Health Organization's officials in Cairo said the virus could mutate at any moment. It would be "more vicious and deadly" if it mutated among humans. They added that they were in constant dialogue with manufacturers of vaccines to produce the vaccine in the near future.
Authorities check travelers at airports and ports and quarantine those who exhibit flu symptoms. The quarantine authorities confined twelve Egyptian passengers and two police officers due to their high temperature. For its part, the Ministry of Transport raised its alert to the maximum level in ports, railways and subways.
An official source at the Ministry for Environment said a Cabinet's higher committee, in cooperation with the ministries of environment, health and agriculture, checked plots of land that could be used as mass graves in case swine flu killed a lot of people. This measure comes within the framework of the government's plan to face the epidemic. President Mubarak has asked the bodies concerned to increase the number of masks from 30 million to 100 million as soon as possible, the source added.
In the meantime, vaccine maker Novartis said Friday it has completed production of its first batch of H1N1 influenza vaccine weeks ahead of schedule, confirming that thirty countries have made requests for vaccine ingredients. The American University in Cairo (AUC) announced yesterday that five of the seven students infected with H1 N1 recovered and left Abbasiyah Hospital.
