NEW DELHI — Health authorities have been struggling to ensure adequate medical supplies reach remote hospitals across northern and western India where a flu outbreak has claimed more than 700 lives in 10 weeks. India's Health Ministry said around 11,000 cases have been reported since mid-December with most of the cases being reported from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states. Although it was being referred to as swine flu, doctors say it is a variant of the H1N1 pandemic influenza. Doctors said casualties were high because patients delay going to hospitals and have urged people to get tested as soon as they feel symptoms. Health Ministry officials say they expect the cases to decline as the weather warms. – AP
