The Council of Ministers was briefed by Minister of Health Monday on measures taken to combat swine flu as the number of cases of A(H1N1) influenza in the Kingdom rose to 14. The Ministry of Health announced Monday that a 13-year-old boy, an eight-month-old infant and a Filipina nurse had all tested positive for the virus. The boy, who is currently being treated in Dhahran at the Aramco Hospital, is a brother of the two children announced as infected Sunday, while the eight-month-old infant is the daughter of the Mauritanian man who tested positive on the same day. The Filipina nurse works at the King Fahd National Guard Hospital in Riyadh. Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah also briefed the Cabinet on the preparations made for Umrah and Haj and the Arab integrated plan for fighting the pandemic based on the WHO announcement. The Cabinet stressed the importance of coordinated efforts to fight the flu pandemic. Ministry of Health spokesman said that all cases have been treated, and that all were now in good health. The three new cases follow those announced Sunday of the man of Mauritanian nationality who had arrived in Madina from Canada, and the brother and sister, aged seven and three respectively, who according to the ministry had been in contact with a toddler who had tested positive a few days previously. The ministry also sent out a circular Monday describing measures being taken to combat the virus and reiterated advice to the public on how to prevent its spread, including washing hands with soap for a minimum of 20 seconds after coughing or sneezing, using disinfectant gel, covering one's mouth when coughing, and avoiding contact with the eyes unless hands are clean. The ministry further moved to deny that any information concerning the spread of swine flu was being withheld from the public, and repeated its free-of-charge hotline number – 8002494444 – for further inquiries concerning the virus. Sami Badawoud, head of Health Affairs in Jeddah, said Sunday that all precautionary measures were being put in place at entry and exit points to ensure the detection of swine flu ahead of the summer period when an influx of visitors to the Kingdom is expected. __
