Saudi Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah announced here Monday that the Kingdom has not registered any suspect cases of swine flu that has appeared in Mexico, some US states and other countries. In a press statement, he said the Ministry of Health has bolstered precautionary measures and ensured the availability of drugs. He said the Kingdom also called a meeting of deputy health ministers from six GCC states on May 9 to discuss the flu epidemic. Medical experts from WHO will also be present in the meeting, he said. The Saudi Ministry of Health Undersecretary for Preventive Medicine, Khaled Al-Zahrani, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette Monday that the Kingdom was safe from the Swine Influenza Virus (SIV). Al-Zahrani said the Ministry had taken all necessary preventive measures to stop the disease from entering the Kingdom in accordance with the WHO plan as governments around the world rushed to reduce the impact of a possible flu pandemic that has killed 103 people in Mexico. Saudi Arabia has set up a hotline 800-249-4444 for the people to seek medical advice or enquire about swine flu, Dr. Khalid Marghalani, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, told the Saudi Gazette. Under the National Plan for Epidemic Diseases, the Saudi authorities have taken all measures to safeguard the citizens and residents against the outbreak of any type of infectious disease in the Kingdom. “The Kingdom has enough quantity of medicine available to deal with any health emergency in the country,” he said referring to swine flu. Meanwhile, Vice President of the Saudi Society for Food and Nutrition Khaled Ali Madani said that SIV was transmitted by pigs through direct contact and contaminated instruments. Vaccinated animals are rarely infected or develop symptoms, Madani said. The symptoms of SIV are similar to seasonal influenza and include fever, coughing, and fatigue, in addition to vomiting and diarrhea. Al-Madani said there was no vaccination against the SIV. Seasonal flu vaccinations, he said, may partially protect against virus type H3N2, but not against H1N1. While the swine flu virus has so far killed no one outside Mexico, the fact that it has proved able to spread quickly between humans has raised fears that the world may be facing the flu pandemic that scientists say is long overdue. Global market edgy Shares and oil prices fell in Asia and Europe because of the flu, as investors feared a further shock to an already fragile global economy, if trade flows are curbed and manufacturing is hit. The MSCI world equity index fell 0.5 percent, although U.S. stocks bounced back from early losses and the Dow Jones industrial average turned higher. The US government has declared a public health emergency and an official said it will also urge Americans to avoid all “non-essential” travel to Mexico, which relies heavily on tourism. Spain became the first country in Europe to confirm a case of swine flu when a man who returned from a trip to Mexico last week was found to have the virus. But his condition, like that of 20 cases identified in the United States and six in Canada, was not serious. A New Zealand teacher and around a dozen students who recently returned from Mexico were also being treated as likely mild swine flu cases. President Barack Obama said US officials were closely monitoring cases of swine flu.
