As swine flu spreads in parts of India, Bangladesh health officials on alert
With the number of H1N1 influenza cases and deathsincreasing dramatically in some states of India this year, health officials in neighboring Bangladesh are on alert , according to a Xinhau report today.
Bangladesh map/CIA
“We’re on alert as a precautionary measure against the H1N1 influenza,” Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of disease control, Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told Xinhua.
Recent media reports out of India show that H1N1 is spreading significantly in some states. In the Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh areas, the total cases since January alone is 212. In addition, the death toll from the viral disease is reported at “43 deaths in 38 days”, according to a recent Times of India report.
Other states are reporting increases of the “swine flu” as health officials try to get a grasp on the problem.
In Bangladesh, “We’re closely monitoring the influenza situation in India so that we can go for more preventive measures like establishing checkpoints on borders on a short notice,” Ahmed said.
Alamgir Hossain, a flu expert at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR) does note, “There is nothing to be scared of the disease so much because we’re now better prepared to treat patients infected with the virus. So far there is nothing to be worried at all.”
Bangladesh has not reported any H1N1 influenza cases so far in February.
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