Arabia: 03 new cases of swine influenza

The Saudi authorities announced Monday three new cases of swine flu, bringing to 14 the number in the kingdom since June 3.

•     It is a Filipino nurse working in a hospital in Riyadh, a baby of eight months, the daughter of a Mauritanian diagnosed Sunday with the virus A (H1N1) on arrival from Canada, and a girl aged 13, said the Ministry of Health in a press release issued by the official Spa.
  
      Three cases of the disease had been reported Sunday.
  
      The Saudi authorities have ensured that they were preparing plans to prevent the spread of the disease during the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in late November and the Omra, or small pilgrimage, a rite to peak during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, which begins around August 20, according to the press.
  
      The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared June 11 the first influenza pandemic for four years and warned that a wider spread of the virus was "inevitable".
  
      The virus has infected nearly 30,000 people in 74 countries and killed 145 people since the first case detected in Mexico in April, according to WHO figures published Friday.
  
      
  Ennaharonline/ M. O.