Sat, Nov 07 2009

Swine flu escalates in the Balkans

Thu, Jul 02 2009 14:17 CET byNick Iliev 918 Views
Swine flu escalates in the Balkans

Within the next 10 days, new thermal cameras will be installed at Bulgarian airports to help the authorities monitor people arriving in the country, and assist them in detecting carriers of the H1N1 stain.

"The technology will arrive from the United States" said Health Minister Evgenii Zhelev, during a press conference in Varna on July 2.

Currently, there are already 11 confirmed cases of swine flu in the country, according to official statistics revealed by the Health Ministry. According to Zhelev, however, "there is a sufficient supply of medication to treat patients".

Additionally, Zhelev said that 700 000 leva have been allocated for a laboratory to constantly survey the "development and mutation of the strain" Investor.bg has reported.

Meanwhile, south of the border, the Greek government has confirmed more than 100 cases of people affected by the H1N1 strain, the Bulgarian news agency, (BTA) has reported.

According to Kathimerini, as of July 1 there are officially 101 people diagnosed with the strain.

Most of the infected patients in Greece, like those in Bulgaria, are people who arrived from abroad, particularly from the United States.

The Greek authorities, however, insist that "the situation is under control and that there is no need to depress the panic button" in spite of the increased number of cases in the country.

In both Bulgaria and Greece, the H1N1 cases are expected to escalate.

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