The Ministry of Health has announced three more cases of swine flu in the Kingdom, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 11, reported the Saudi Press Agency Sunday. The flu was detected in a Mauritanian man who arrived in Madina from Canada and two siblings in Riyadh – a girl aged three and a boy aged seven. The two children had been in contact with a toddler who tested positive a few days ago, said a ministry statement. Khaled Al-Zahrani, the ministry's undersecretary, said a newly formed committee will put in place precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease during Haj and Umra. Meanwhile, Novartis AG expects a vaccine for the H1N1 virus to be available by the autumn after it produced the first batch for testing ahead of schedule. US company Baxter International Inc said it is in full-scale production of an A/H1N1 flu pandemic vaccine that could be ready for commercial use as early as next month. The Baxter and Novartis vaccines were both developed using cell-based technology that could allow for much more rapid production and distribution than traditional vaccines produced using chicken eggs. The Novartis vaccine will enter clinical trials next month.
