Swine flu causes concern in India

Rajasthan is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India, drawing hordes of indigenous as well as foreign tourists to cities like Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, especially in the cooler winter months.

The Swiss tourist, who has only been identified by her first name Annemarie by Indian news agencies, was visiting Jaisalmer when she complained of flu-like symptoms. She was admitted to a private clinic at first and brought by her tour guide to Jodhpur on Wednesday. She died in the hospital on Thursday after having tested positive for the H1N1 virus, as the chief medical officer of the city Y.S. Rathore told both the AFP and PTI news agencies by phone.

The deceased was also suffering from lung cancer, the Press Trust of India has reported.

India's health ministry said on Wednesday that 407 people have died of swine flu this year, more than half of them in the first ten days of February. More than 5,000 cases of swine flu have been detected in the country as a whole, the ministry reported in its statement . The cases were mostly from the states of Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telengana, while the deaths occurred mainly in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Telengana.

Health Secretary B.P. Sharma chaired a high-level meeting to review the situation before the statement was released. Meanwhile, authorities in Rajasthan have cancelled all leave for doctors whereas in neighboring Gujarat, people are queueing up in panic in front of hospitals, waiting to be screened.

The World Health Organization officially declared the swine flu pandemic to be over in 2010. The H1N1 virus emerged in Mexico a full year earlier and proceeded to kill thousands of people around the world.

ac/rc (AFP, PTI)