Posted July 31, 2017 19:27:06 Ten people have died in an outbreak of H1N1 influenza in Myanmar, a health official has said, as the Government stepped up public awareness campaigns about the swine flu virus. The latest outbreak began more than a week ago, deputy director of the infectious diseases department at the Ministry of Health and Sport, Thinzar Aung, said. Yangon — Myanmar's biggest city — is the worst affected area. Health awareness campaigns have been carried out and authorities sought to calm public fears over the outbreak, although stores have sold out of surgical masks in Yangon. Authorities have told the public not to panic and described the latest outbreak as a regular seasonal occurrence. "We have never withheld any information about the infection of the disease," Heath Minister Myint Htwe was quoted as saying by state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar. "We are releasing real information on the seasonal influenza H1N1 in real time." H1N1 has been among the strains of flu circulating in Myanmar seasonally since a global pandemic in 2009, although deaths from the virus had not been reported in recent years, heath officials have said. Aside from those killed by the virus, 51 people have been confirmed to have contracted the disease, according to the Health Ministry. It has called on hospitals and clinics to report patients showing signs of influenza-like illness. Separately, Myanmar's livestock ministry has also reported an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in the south. More than 1,800 chickens were culled after the virus was detected at a farm in the southern town of Dawei last month. Reuters Topics: infectious-diseases-other, world-politics, myanmar, asia
An outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus has killed 10 people in Myanmar, with More than 1,800 other cases confirmed, according to deputy director of the infectious diseases department at the Ministry of Health and Sport, Thinzar Aung. The outbreak, which occurred a week ago and has hit Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, hardest, is being downplayed as a "regular seasonal occurrence" by the authorities, who have launched several health campaigns. 51 chickens were culled following the discovery of the H5N1 virus, in the southern town of Dawei last month.