Kuwait reports swine flu cases in US soldiers

Kuwait confirmed on Saturday its first H1N1 flu cases in U.S. soldiers transiting through the country, the state news agency KUNA reported, citing a government official.

The virus was detected in 18 soldiers and those still in the country had been “completely quarantined” in their military base, Health Undersecretary Ibrahim al-Abdulhadi told KUNA.

Abdulhadi said health officials discovered that the U.S. soldiers were infected with swine flu once they arrived in Kuwait and were given appropriate medication.

“Most of the soldiers left Kuwait already and the rest are treated in a military hospital,” whose name and location were not mentioned, and they would be leaving the country later, said Abdulhadi.

He told KUNA that the Health Ministry would held a press conference on Sunday to release more details about the issue.

Last week Turkey and India reported their first swine flu cases in two travelers flying from the United States.

India said the infected man it identified had changed planes in Dubai on his way from the United States and that all passengers who flew on the same plane to India were being contacted.

The World Health Organization is poised to declare a full pandemic of the H1N1 swine flu virus, which has infected more than 11,000 people in 42 countries and killed 86.

Most of the soldiers left Kuwait already and the rest were treated in a military hospital

Health Undersecretary Ibrahim Al-Abdulhadi