U.S. soldiers taking part in large-scale drill contract type-A flu

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- Two American soldiers taking part in a joint South
Korea-U.S. military drill have been infected with type-A influenza, health
officials said Friday.

The case marks the first time that American soldiers deployed in South Korea have
been infected with the virus that has affected over 2,600 in South Korea and
killed two locals.
The soldiers, whom the health authorities declined to identify, had arrived from
the United States earlier this month to take part in the Ulchi Freedom Guardian,
a computer-assisted exercise that began on Monday and will end on Thursday.
About 10,000 U.S. troops and 56,000 South Korean soldiers have been mobilized for
the exercise. Some of the 28,500 U.S. troops regularly stationed in South Korea
are also taking part in it.
Military officials said over 200 South Korean soldiers have been infected since
early July with the new influenza, which was first reported in Mexico in April
and has since spread to 170 countries.
The American soldiers infected in South Korea have been quarantined at a U.S.
military camp in the southeastern city of Daegu, the officials said.
There have been over 182,000 confirmed cases of the flu worldwide with about
1,800 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
samkim@yna.co.kr