Re: Jordan - Cases - 25
Re: Jordan - Cases - 25
Health Ministry confirms two new swine flu cases
By Khetam Malkawi
AMMAN - The Kingdom is no longer free of H1N1 (swine) flu, following the registration of two new cases on Tuesday.
Health authorities said that two arrivals in Jordan tested positive yesterday and were admitted to Prince Hamzah Hospital, which discharged its last remaining swine flu case on Monday.
In a statement sent to The Jordan Times, Minister of Health Nayef Fayez said the first case is a 12-year-old Jordanian boy who arrived in Amman on Monday from Saudi Arabia after performing Umra (minor pilgrimage) with his parents, while the second is also a boy of the same age who came from the UAE.
According to Primary Healthcare Director Adel Bilbeisi, the two cases were discovered through the thermal imaging cameras installed at Queen Alia International Airport.
?We referred the two patients immediately to undergo medical checkups after the cameras detected their high fever,? Bilbeisi told The Jordan Times yesterday.
He added that the ministry will continue to follow the same precautionary procedures and request those who feel any symptoms of swine flu to undergo medical tests.
Bilbeisi also called on the public to stay away from crowded areas and avoid close contact with others, in order to help prevent the spread of the disease.
Since the announcement of the first two swine flu cases in the Kingdom on June 15, health authorities have registered 25 cases, including several non-Jordanians.
The ministry has taken several measures to tackle the issue, including establishing a hotline (0799036023) to disseminate information about swine flu, designating 19 health institutions across the Kingdom to receive suspected cases, and installing thermal scanning cameras at Queen Alia International Airport and border crossings to gauge the temperatures of people entering the country.
The ministry also announced that 80 per cent of the Kingdom?s population will be given the H1N1 flu vaccine when it becomes available in October.