20 minutes ago BOGOTA (AFP) - A 42 year old man who recently arrived from Mexico and lives in the city of Zipaquira, near Bogota, is the first carrier of swine flu (or H1N1) in Colombia, authorities confirmed Sunday.
"On the night of Saturday, the Colombian government was notified by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention U.S.) that one of the 18 samples sent to us was positive for H1N1 virus. This allows us to confirm that Colombia becomes the 18th country with the virus, "he told media the Minister of Social Protection (Health), Diego Palacio.
Palacio said that his country's health authorities detected 108 suspected cases the presence of virus in 216 patients with symptoms of the flu. Of these, four are hospitalized and they carry out regular evaluations. Only one case was confirmed, he added.
The official declined to disclose the identity of the person who tested positive for the virus to prevent it is to stigmatize him, his family and his city. " "Recently arrived from Mexico and we think he said it is the first of several that we have and we must be respectful."
"This person is receiving all necessary medical care and take all measures to cope with this situation", he emphasized that his recall after government declared a few weeks ago a disaster situation in order to adopt the necessary measures.
"This should alarm us. It is part of the normal course of this situation for which we have been preparing. We ask the media not only in the case of this patient but others surely we have with the virus, are very responsible, "he said.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)-through its representative in Colombia, Paolo Balladelli-Pierre noted the steps taken by the Colombian government to tackle the virus. "We are calm because in Colombia is taking all measures" he said.
"This is the tip of the iceberg Other cases to be present in Colombia, but we feel reassured that thanks to strict surveillance, this is one of the first countries to detect the virus and everything has been done in coordination with the World Health Organization " he said.
In turn, Andrés González-governor of the department (province) of Cundinamarca, where it detected the virus, called for calm and reminded citizens that the country has sufficient quantities of medicines to tackle virus.
"The entire medical team is ready to respond immediately to any kind of diagnosis. Have taken all preventive measures. And we must preserve normality in everyday life, obviously taking the basic precautions, "said Gonzalez.
Among the measures recently announced by the government of Alvaro Uribe to face the virus was announced that the import of 14,000 tablets of Tamiflu medication and is studying the option of authorizing production in the country of the drug to control the disease.
also distributed 850,000 masks between the secretariats of Health thousand municipalities and negotiated the purchase of another 800,000 to be spread over the next few days. It went into effect a call center to report to people who have symptoms related to the virus.
The authorities had banned the Colombian capital on Saturday the performance of public with artists and groups from Mexico or Texas and California in the United States and authorized to a faculty and students not to attend classes to prevent the spread of virus .
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
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