| Fourth case of swine flu in Cape Verde confirmed | ||||
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Minister of Health Basílio Ramos confirmed the fourth recorded case of the H1N1 virus, swine flu, in Cape Verde during a press conference Friday, July 17, in Praia. The positive result of the analysis was communicated by the Pasteur Institute in Senegalese capital Dakar. The carrier in question is a Cape Verdean student on the island of São Vicente who recently returned from Brazil. According to Ramos, the tests carried out by the island’s health professionals on the patient indicated that the symptoms had begun some three months ago, but the student did not consider them serious, as he was used to similar flu-like symptoms. “Although some of the information provided by the patient did not fit into the definition of a suspected case, São Vicente’s health professionals, in coordination with central Health officials, decided to move forward with their investigation,” said the Minister of Health. The Minister also stated that 22 suspected cases have so bar investigated in Cape Verde, four of which have tested positive for the H1N1 virus. Fifteen tests came back negative and results are pending on three. “This new case was detected within the framework of the surveillance being carried out by health authorities. We’re going to continue to carry out surveillance on people arriving from affected countries, particularly the United States and Brazil,” assured the cabinet minister. Another measure that has been adopted by authorities is the control of tourists arriving on the islands of Boa Vista and Sal on charter flights, mainly on flights arriving from the United Kingdom, one of the European countries with the highest number of confirmed cases of swine flu, as well as Spain and Portugal. “We are advising all people who have hosted or will be hosting émigrés in their homes to be on the lookout for the development of flu symptoms in the days following their arrival in the country and to immediately contact health services if any are suspected,” added the head of the Health Ministry’s Epidemiology Service. |
