Tweet
Swine flu 'second wave' begins in Saudi: minister
(AFP) ? 3 hours ago
RIYADH ? A second wave of swine flu has begun in Saudi Arabia, the health ministry said on Friday, as the death toll from A(H1N1) neared 60 just weeks before the annual hajj brings two million pilgrims to the country.
"The ministry of health said a second wave of the swine flu virus began in early October with the beginning of the fall and cooler weather," the official SPA news agency reported.
"The ministry has recorded a rise in the number of cases in the kingdom, as is the case in other countries of the northern hemisphere... which has led to an increase in deaths from the disease," it said.
The ministry gave no figures, but ministry spokesman Khaled Marghlani said on Wednesday that swine flu deaths had reached 59 this week, according to media reports.
Saudi Arabic stopped regular public updates of swine flu figures in September, when already the number of cases topped 4,000.
Several schools were closed around the country during the past week and the authorities are girding for the possibility that swine flu cases could rocket with the arrival of more than two million pilgrims in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for the hajj over the next three weeks.
Copyright ? 2009 AFP. All rights reserved