Jun 2, 2009
Egypt reports first novel flu case in Africa
Egypt's health ministry, in a statement today on its state news service, announced the country's first novel flu case, involving a 12-year-old American girl who arrived in Cairo yesterday on a flight from Europe, according to Voice of America. Other media outlets reported that her illness was detected at the airport with a thermal scanner. Egypt is the first African country to report a novel H1N1 case.
[Jun 2 VOA story]
Global H1N1 case count nears 19,000
A total of 18,965 confirmed novel flu cases in 64 countries, with 117 deaths, have been reported to the World Health Organization, WHO spokesman Dr. Keiji Fukuda reported at a news briefing today. The numbers are up from 17,410 cases in 62 countries, with 115 deaths, as of yesterday. Fukuda did not name the two countries new to the list. He said the WHO would update its online case count on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from now on, instead of 5 days a week.
[WHO novel flu press briefings]
More European countries report first cases
Three more countries--Luxembourg, Ukraine, and Bulgaria--reported their first novel flu cases, according to media reports. Luxembourg officials said the patient there was recently treated for moderate flu symptoms after returning from New York, Reuters reported today. The patients from Ukraine and Bulgaria had also traveled recently to New York.
[Jun 2 Reuters story]
California confirms two novel flu deaths
California's Department of Public Health yesterday (CDPH) announced the state's first deaths from the novel H1N1 virus, in a middle-aged man and woman. San Bernardino County officials said the man had heart disease, pneumonia, and obesity. Los Angeles County officials said the middle-aged woman died in late May and had a preexisting condition. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adds five recently reported deaths to its total, the nation's official death toll will rise to 22.
Canada reports third novel H1N1 fatality
Ontario's health ministry today reported that a man with several underlying health conditions who had tested positive for the new flu virus died, raising Canada's fatality count to three, Canwest News Service (CNS) reported. The man had been hospitalized and had tested positive for the virus several weeks earlier.
[Jun 2 CNS story]
