2 more Israelis suspected of carrying swine flu

A 34-year-old man who returned to Israel from Mexico on Tuesday has been quarantined at Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center after coming down with flu symptoms. He is undergoing tests to determine whether he had contracted the swine flu virus. The patient is said to be doing well.

Later it was reported that a 56-year-old Israeli woman who returned from a trip to Mexico has been quarantined at Kfar Saba's Meir Hospital due to suspicions that she may have contracted the swine flu virus.

Two Israelis have already been confirmed as having the virus, and two additional suspected cases of swine flu are being checked.

Professor Yehuda Carmeli, head of the epidemiology unit at Sourasky, said a 10-year-old boy suspected of having been exposed to the virus on a flight from New York that arrived in Israel on Sunday has also been isolated.

He said the boy was hospitalized Tuesday night with symptoms of a respiratory disease.

"Every patient who is suspected of carrying the virus receives antiviral treatment and flu medication that is considered to also be effective against the swine flu," he said.  

The Egyptian government said Wednesday it had begun slaughtering all of the country's 300,000 pigs as a precautionary measure against the possible spread of the flu. The Health Ministry has stated several times that there are no cases swine flu in the country.

Meanwhile, an American government official confirmed the first US death from the new H1N1 swine flu on Wednesday, a 23-month-old child who died in Texas.

It is the first death from swine flu reported outside Mexico, the country hardest hit by the influenza outbreak. The official gave no other details on the case. US officials have confirmed 65 cases of swine flu, most of them mild.

Earlier, Germany's national disease control center said it had confirmed three swine flu cases - making it the third country in Europe where the disease has surfaced.

The Robert Koch Institute said the cases include a 22-year-old woman being treated for flu-like symptoms in a Hamburg hospital after returning from a visit to Mexico.

The other two cases are a man in his 30s being treated at a university in the southern city of Regensburg; and a 37-year-old woman from another southern town who recently traveled to Mexico.

The first case of swine flu confirmed in Israel was that of 26-year-old Tomer Vajim, who was admitted to the Laniado Hospital in Netanya. Vajim's five-year-old niece was also admitted to the hospital after she exhibited flu symptoms. She is also said to be doing well.

Kids home for Independence Day

On Tuesday, Independence Day eve, parents of children who attend kindergarten with the five-year-old girl in Moshav Geulim were briefed by the teacher on the Health Ministry's instructions.

"In accordance with the instructions, we did not take our children to the celebrations and plan to stay at home during the holiday," one parent told Ynet.

Kindergarten in Geulim (Photo: Raanan Ben-Zur)

On Tuesday the Health Ministry announced that a second case of swine flu has been confirmed in Israel.

The carrier, a 49-year-old man who returned from a visit to Mexico three days ago, was hospitalized in the Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba after exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Hospital officials said the he was in the isolation ward and doing well.

The man returned to Israel on El Al flight 26 from Mexico City to Tel Aviv. The Health Ministry urged people who were on the flight and are feeling unwell, to seek medical attention.

Netanyahu was said to have the Defense Ministry take point on the matter, but eventually tasked the Health Ministry with ensuring the nation's readiness in case of an outbreak.

A regional conference on the perils of the swine flu pandemic is expected to be held on Thursday, with delegates from Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority in attendance; Cairo has yet to confirm its delegation to the meeting.

News agencies contributed to the report