Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
EGYPT ISSUES WARNING ON MAKKAH;
8 Kuwaitis back with swine flu
KUWAIT CITY, July 21, (Agencies): Eight Kuwaitis have tested postive for swine flu on their return from an Omra pilgrimage to Makkah and have been admitted to hospital, the Kuwaiti health ministry announced on Tuesday.
The Kuwaitis, including six women, ?underwent laboratory tests, which confirmed their infection by the A(H1N1) virus,? ministry spokesman Yussef al-Nisf.
?They are receiving the necessary treatment at the hospital and they are in stable condition,? he said. The new cases take the number of people in Kuwait confirmed to have contracted swine flu to 44, most of whom have now recovered, the spokesman said.
Al-Nisf, quoting the Saudi Health Ministry, said that authorities there have called on the elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and children to postpone performing pilgrimage for this year. It also urged pilgrims to get vaccinated against seasonal flu two weeks prior to their departure as a precautionary measure. The spokesman said the health ministry is following the situation and is dealing with the patients in line with guidelines of the World Health Organization
Egypt has become the latest country to warn vulnerable Muslims against pilgrimage to Makkah, after an Egyptian woman back from Saudi Arabia became the first swine flu death in the Middle East and Africa.
Egypt?s health ministry ?has warned the elderly, pregnant women, children and those suffering from chronic illness not to perform the Hajj or Omra pilgrimages,? the official MENA news agency reported late Monday.
As well as the annual hajj, which all Muslims are required to make once in a lifetime if they have the means, the faithful can also make a lesser pilgrimage to the holy places, known as omra, at any time of the year.
Upwards of two million people are expected in Saudi Arabia over the next five months on pilgrimages to the Muslim holy cities of Makkah and Mdina in the west of the kingdom.
The ministry ?has asked them to delay taking part so that they are not exposed to the risks... of swine flu,? MENA quoted health ministry official Amr Qandil as saying.
The warning came ahead of a meeting of Arab health ministers in Cairo on Wednesday to coordinate arrangements and precautions to be taken during the pilgrimage season.
Egypt on Sunday reported its first death linked to swine flu after a 25-year-old woman returning from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia died in hospital.
Egypt?s top cleric or mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, has said he would be guided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other medical authorities on whether to issue a fatwa or decree barring all Egyptians from making the pilgrimage.
Egyptian health officials have said all returning pilgrims will be quarantined.
In Iran, a health ministry official on Tuesday repeated calls for elderly Iranians and children to avoid travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage as the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the Islamic republic rose to 16.
?Twelve among them are omra pilgrims,? Mahmoud Soroush, head of the ministry?s flu and border prevention programmes, told state news agency IRNA.
Saudi Arabia in June warned elderly Muslims and pregnant women against undertaking the hajj because of the threat of swine flu. Oman issued a similar warning on July 6.
Tunisia earlier this month suspended omra pilgrimages because of the virus, while reserving judgement on whether the main hajj pilgrimage should be undertaken in November.
Peak numbers make the omra pilgrimage during the holy month of Ramadan, which this year is due to begin in late August.
Saudi Arabia has pre-ordered millions of doses of vaccines for the rapidly spreading H1NI flu so that, if ready, they can be administered around the kingdom ahead of the massive November-December global pilgrimage to Makkah.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/kuwaitnews/pagesdetails.asp?nid=35004&ccid=9
8 Kuwaitis back with swine flu
KUWAIT CITY, July 21, (Agencies): Eight Kuwaitis have tested postive for swine flu on their return from an Omra pilgrimage to Makkah and have been admitted to hospital, the Kuwaiti health ministry announced on Tuesday.
The Kuwaitis, including six women, ?underwent laboratory tests, which confirmed their infection by the A(H1N1) virus,? ministry spokesman Yussef al-Nisf.
?They are receiving the necessary treatment at the hospital and they are in stable condition,? he said. The new cases take the number of people in Kuwait confirmed to have contracted swine flu to 44, most of whom have now recovered, the spokesman said.
Al-Nisf, quoting the Saudi Health Ministry, said that authorities there have called on the elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and children to postpone performing pilgrimage for this year. It also urged pilgrims to get vaccinated against seasonal flu two weeks prior to their departure as a precautionary measure. The spokesman said the health ministry is following the situation and is dealing with the patients in line with guidelines of the World Health Organization
Egypt has become the latest country to warn vulnerable Muslims against pilgrimage to Makkah, after an Egyptian woman back from Saudi Arabia became the first swine flu death in the Middle East and Africa.
Egypt?s health ministry ?has warned the elderly, pregnant women, children and those suffering from chronic illness not to perform the Hajj or Omra pilgrimages,? the official MENA news agency reported late Monday.
As well as the annual hajj, which all Muslims are required to make once in a lifetime if they have the means, the faithful can also make a lesser pilgrimage to the holy places, known as omra, at any time of the year.
Upwards of two million people are expected in Saudi Arabia over the next five months on pilgrimages to the Muslim holy cities of Makkah and Mdina in the west of the kingdom.
The ministry ?has asked them to delay taking part so that they are not exposed to the risks... of swine flu,? MENA quoted health ministry official Amr Qandil as saying.
The warning came ahead of a meeting of Arab health ministers in Cairo on Wednesday to coordinate arrangements and precautions to be taken during the pilgrimage season.
Egypt on Sunday reported its first death linked to swine flu after a 25-year-old woman returning from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia died in hospital.
Egypt?s top cleric or mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, has said he would be guided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other medical authorities on whether to issue a fatwa or decree barring all Egyptians from making the pilgrimage.
Egyptian health officials have said all returning pilgrims will be quarantined.
In Iran, a health ministry official on Tuesday repeated calls for elderly Iranians and children to avoid travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage as the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the Islamic republic rose to 16.
?Twelve among them are omra pilgrims,? Mahmoud Soroush, head of the ministry?s flu and border prevention programmes, told state news agency IRNA.
Saudi Arabia in June warned elderly Muslims and pregnant women against undertaking the hajj because of the threat of swine flu. Oman issued a similar warning on July 6.
Tunisia earlier this month suspended omra pilgrimages because of the virus, while reserving judgement on whether the main hajj pilgrimage should be undertaken in November.
Peak numbers make the omra pilgrimage during the holy month of Ramadan, which this year is due to begin in late August.
Saudi Arabia has pre-ordered millions of doses of vaccines for the rapidly spreading H1NI flu so that, if ready, they can be administered around the kingdom ahead of the massive November-December global pilgrimage to Makkah.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/kuwaitnews/pagesdetails.asp?nid=35004&ccid=9