Tracking the flu

Haryana has decided to invoke the Epidemic Disease Act,1897 in its battle against swine flu,the third state,after Delhi and Maharashtra,to do so.

Haryana invokes Epidemic Act

CHANDIGARH: Haryana has decided to invoke the Epidemic Disease Act,1897 in its battle against swine flu,the third state,after Delhi and Maharashtra,to do so. The provisions of the Act would remain in force for up to one year,an official spokesman said on Monday night,adding that the regulations would be known as the Haryana Epidemic Disease,A H1N1 Influenza Swine Flu Regulations 2009. It would be obligatory on the part of private hospitals to notify the government hospitals in their respective areas of any patient reporting swine flu-like symptoms.

Pune weather may favour virus

PUNE: The weather conditions in Pune,the city worst-hit by swine flu,could be conducive for the virus,the National Institute of Virology NIV said on Tuesday. Punes climate at present is not too hot neither too cold,which may be conducive for the survival of the swine flu virus, NIV Director A C Mishra said. We are in constant touch with Pune authorities and guiding the doctors on priority of treatment in serious cases, he added.

First swine flu case in Jamp;K

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir reported its first swine flu case on Tuesday with a girl studying in Pune testing positive for the virus at the government hospital here. A case of swine flu has been found in the state with a girl testing positive for swine flu,Director,Health Services,Jammu,Dr Jasbir Singh said. Akankshi,22,an MBA student in Pune had come home a few days ago. Singh said that she was being treated in an isolated ward of the Government Medical College Hospital here and her condition was stable.

Masks for CISF staff at airports

NEW DELHI: CISF personnel posted at all airports are now being provided masks to prevent infection from the deadly virus. While jawans posted at the arrival point of the airports are already equipped with masks,others in the periphery and inside the airports are also being provided the same, an official said. However,they are being provided normal surgical masks which experts say are of little use. The cost difference is too high. Surgical masks come for Rs 10 whereas H 95 costs about Rs 300 per piece, the official said.

Footballer first in Northeast

SHILLONG: Seventeen-year-old Meghalaya footballer Salwit Tongper has become the first person to test positive for swine flu in the Northeast. Tongper,who had returned to India from the UK after a training session,has been kept in isolation at the Shillong Civil Hospital. He was part of a 16-member group from across India which had gone to the UK. Meghalaya Director of Health Service Dr K H Lakiang on Tuesday said that the hospital staff had been instructed to contact his family members to ascertain whether they had been infected.