14 new swine flu cases take India tally to 183

New Delhi, July 11 : India Saturday reported 14 new swine flu cases, taking the total number of people infected with the influenza A(H1N1) virus to 183, according to the health ministry.

'About 1,117 people have been tested so far of which 183 are positive for Influenza A(H1N1),' a statement issued here said.

'Of the 183 positive cases, 131 have been discharged. Rest of them remain admitted to the identified health facility,' it said.

Out of the 1,117 people, 340 were identified through the airport entry screening.

Health officials said the new laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported from Delhi (4), Ahmedabad (2), Pune (3), Hyderabad (2) and Chennai (3).

In Delhi, the four cases, including three teenagers, are from one family that had come here from Singapore July 8. They tested positive for the flu Saturday.

In Ahmedabad, two people testing positive were part of a group of 40 students who travelled by American Airlines and had reached Delhi July 4. The two returned Ahmedabad July 7.

The officials said the group of 40 students had gone to the US on a yearlong exchange programme through an NGO and had traveled back to India from Chicago

'They stayed in Delhi for three days and then went to their respective states,' the statement said.

These students belong to Maharashtra (9), Gujarat (18), Karnataka (1), Tamil Nadu (7) and Delhi (5).

'All of them and their contacts are being traced and also their modality of inland travel ascertained,' it said.

In Chennai, a 34-year-old woman and her nine-year-old son and six-year-old daughter tested positive for swine flu. Her husband has also been quarantined, the officials added.

The family travelled by Saudi Arabian Airlines from Dammam in Saudi Arabia and reached Chennai July 9.

'They were detected at the airport with low-grade fever and cough and admitted to an identified isolation facility,' the official said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 94,512 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection have been reported from 135 countries till July 6. There have been 429 deaths globally, most of them in Mexico and the US.

--IANS