In the past month, eight people lost their lives to H1N1 influenza (swine flu) in Kerman Province, said Nozar Nakhaei, health deputy of Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Preventive measures such as public education and provision of vaccination for pregnant women have been taken, IRNA quoted him as saying. The last case of the disease was reported on November 30, and in the past week no fresh cases have been detected in the province. Swine influenza is a respiratory disease caused by viruses that infect the respiratory tract in pigs. In August 2010, the World Health Organization declared the swine flu pandemic officially over. There have been small outbreaks of H1N1 since the pandemic which are caused by a new virus that has changed in ways that allow it to spread from person to person among people with no contact with pigs.
