| Ministry of Health confirms three cases of swine flu in Cape Verde | ||||
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The Ministry of Health has confirmed the existence of three cases of H1N1 flu in Cape Verde. The virus was detected in three children from the municipality of Santa Catarina, on the island of Santiago, who were hospitalized in the early morning hours of June 18. Health Minister Basílio Ramos said in a press conference Monday that the three cases had been confirmed by examinations carried out at the Pasteur Institute in Senegalese capital Dakar. “There is no reason for panic, as long as people observe the recommendations of health authorities,” stressed the cabinet minister, adding that the children, aged between three and ten years of age, are all under medical surveillance. One of the children recently returned from a trip to the United States, where the so-called swine flu has hit various states. Health authorities also affirm that one of the children has traveled with his mother to the island of Brava, and that the island’s medical authorities have been given all of the instructions necessary to deal with the case correctly. At the moment, according to the director of the Health Department, Jacqueline Pereira, Cape Verde’s stock of medicine is enough to treat 1,034 patients, and the Ministry of Health will reinforce all of its H1N1 prevention campaigns. The H1N1 virus has infected some 12,000 people in 42 countries so far this year, having killed 86. |
