Samples of 15 suspected cases of H1N1 flu found negative

New Delhi, May 5 (PTI) The samples of 15 suspected cases
of H1N1 flu were found to be negative even as the results of
five more persons are awaited in India.

While the samples of three suspected persons from Delhi
have tested negative, the results of two from Cochin are still
awaited and two more suspected cases have been placed under
isolation in Bangalore, Joint Secretary Ministry of Health
Vineet Chaudhary told reporters here Tuesday.

Another person in Delhi had come forward on his own to
the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and he is also been checked for
the virus.

Chaudhary said around 30,000-40,000 people were being
screened regularly at the airports.

He divulged that one suspected case who later turned out
to be negative was tracked down to Andhra Pradesh after a tip
off from the Chinese government.

The 27-year-old man had taken a flight from Mexico to
Shanghai and took an Indian carrier back home. Authorities in
Shanghai had found a positive case of H1N1 flu in the flight
from Mexico following which they informed the Indian embassy
in Beijing and thus this man was tracked down within 24 hours.

In another development, some states in Maharashtra have
informed the Centre that while there are no cases of H1N1 flu
in their region, some pigs are afflicted with swine fever and
that is why they are being culled.

"Swine fever is as such cannot be transmitted to humans,
though it can cause mortality in pigs," Chaudhary said. PTI