Since the outbreak of swine flu three weeks ago in two provinces of Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan, over 800 cases of the H1N1 virus have been reported across the country, said Mohammad Mehdi Gouya, director-general of communicable diseases at the Health Ministry’s Disease Control and Prevention Center.
“Out of the nearly 2,700 suspected cases across the country last week, 896 were diagnosed as having swine flu, and 11 have succumbed to the virus,” he said, ISNA reported.
The deaths are scattered and are not endemic, in the provinces of Lorestan (2), Mazandaran (2), Alborz (2), Khuzestan (2), Golestan (1), and Tabriz (2). Gouya ruled out rumors regarding the severity of the situation and said the disease is just as curable as a common cold if early medical assistance is sought as soon as the symptoms appear. The outbreak of swine flu was reported first in Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan provinces, where more than 40 people had died till December 11.
