Official: No influenza A/H1N1 case in Iran

Source: Xinhua | 05-11-2009 19:42

TEHRAN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Vice chairman of Iran's parliament (Majlis) Health and Medical Education Commission said Monday that there is no sign of influenza A/H1N1 in Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"No suspect case of influenza A/H1N1 has been reported in Iran yet," Hossein-Ali Shahriari was quoted as saying.

He said Iran's Health Ministry is completely ready to face the novel flu and adopt effective methods to prevent it.

On Tuesday, Iran's government said that it has established an anti-influenza A/H1N1 committee.

As a means to confront the flu epidemic disease in the country, Iran established the committee in which four ministers and two vice presidents are present, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

On Wednesday, Iran's Health Ministry urged travelers to avoid visiting the United States and Mexico for fear of the flu outbreak.

The World Health Organization has raised the current level of influenza pandemic alert from Phase 4 to 5, advising all countries to immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans.

The influenza A/H1N1 is a contagious respiratory disease which is a mixture of bird, pig and human gene. The virus can spread to people through contact with infected pigs and infected persons.

Editor:Xiong Qu