(6th LD) S. Korea reports first probable case of swine flu

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, first 8 paras; ADDS details throughout; TRIMS)
SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- A 51-year-old South Korean woman who recently toured
Mexico is the first probable case of swine flu here, health authorities said
Tuesday, raising concerns over a domestic outbreak of the deadly disease.
The woman, whose identity was withheld, has been quarantined at a
state-designated hospital for treatment, the state-run Korea Centers for Disease
Control (KCDC) said in a statement. Her body samples will be sent to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States for further tests, it
added.
The woman was among three travelers who recently returned from trips to Mexico.
The other two were found not to carry the influenza virus after being quarantined
at their homes where anti-viral drugs were administered, the agency said.
"We conducted a throat swab test on the patient and found that the women probably
suffers from swine influenza," KCDC said. "She tested positive for type-A virus."
"The final confirmation on whether she really suffers from the disease will be
made after the test is completed," a KCDC official said.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by type-A influenza that regularly
causes outbreaks mostly among pigs and is transmittable to humans.
KCDC announced earlier in the day that it was conducting tests on an individual
suspected of having contracted swine flu as the patient showed flu-like symptoms
such as coughing and fever.
The agency said it is also tracing those who were aboard the same airplane that
the woman took when she returned from her trip to Mexico, a move aimed at
stemming the possible further spread of swine flu.
The reports come as governments worldwide are struggling to control 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.
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, 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, 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 only 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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