(4th LD) S. Korea reports first suspected swine flu case

(ATTN: ADDS health authorities' response in 2nd para, at bottom: ADDS details in 4th
para)
SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean health authorities said Tuesday that
they are conducting tests on a citizen suspected of having contracted swine flu
as the country heightened its health alert following a global outbreak of the
deadly disease.
In response, the state-run Korea Centers for Disease Control (KCDC) also raised
its alert level by one notch, calling for stepped-up cooperation among related
agencies to stem the outbreak of the virus.
"We have received reports on three people suspected of having contracted swine
flu and tests are currently underway on one citizen with the other two having
been found not to carry the influenza virus," the KCDC said in a statement.
All three recently returned from trips to Mexico, showing symptoms of flu
including coughing and fever. They were quarantined in their homes where
antiviral drugs were administered, it added.
A KCDC official confirmed that the individual being tested is a 51-year-old
woman. She was found to carry the "H1" type virus but noted that the "N1" type
virus also needed to be found before they could confirm whether the person is
infected with swine flu.
The patient reportedly lives in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul, the
nation's capital where more than one third of its population resides, he added.
The reports come as governments worldwide are struggling to stem the spread of
the highly infectious virus, which has reportedly killed nearly 150 people in
Mexico alone.
Human cases have also been reported from the United States, Canada and some
European countries, according to media reports, raising concerns that the virus
is spreading at a faster-than-expected pace.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by type A influenza that regularly
causes outbreaks mostly among pigs and is transmittable to humans.
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) held an emergency meeting and raised
its alert level by one notch to the third highest.
The South Korean government has also tightened quarantine measures for pork
imports from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, while stepping up inspections of
tourists who have traveled to affected areas.
South Korea consumed around 930,000 tons of pork last year, of which 36.5 percent
was imported, according to industry data. Of the imported meat, around half came
from North American countries. Experts say, however, that the virus cannot be
transmitted through the consumption of meat.
On Monday, the KCDC said that it will double its stockpile of Tamiflu and other
influenza drugs. The amount would be enough to treat 5 million people, around 10
percent of the country's population.
In its latest move, the KCDC expanded its quarantine to include travelers who
return from all foreign countries, a stepped-up move from the previous measure
under which those who returned from affected areas were screened for infection.
The disease control center, meanwhile, upped its alert level by one notch to
"Yellow" from the previous "Blue," a move aimed at intensifying cooperation to
stem the outbreak of swine influenza.
The Yellow level, the third-highest in the nation's four-tier disaster alert
system, is activated when a suspected or confirmed case of transmittable disease
is reported.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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