In an emergency meeting held Wednesday with ministry undersecretaries, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health, discussed measures to confront swine flu following the discovery of the first case in the Kingdom. Dr. Al-Rabeah said it was essential that anyone who had come into contact with the Filipina nurse infected with swine flu be contacted to prevent the spread of the virus. The ministry announced telephone numbers to be called by anyone who are suspected to have contact with the infected woman. The Health Directorate in Qassim, meanwhile, made administrative moves to divide the region into 12 zones as a preventive measure in response to the detection of the virus. A spokesman said the Health Directorate had drawn up the plan at a meeting Wednesday to address the tackling of the virus attended by all health officials in the region. The first confirmed case of swine flu was detected on Wednesday in a Filipina nurse returning from vacation in the Philippines. A source at King Faisal Specialist Hospital has said that the nurse, who is reportedly 40 years of age, had been isolated at her place of residence where she is receiving the appropriate treatment, and added that the hospital had also run comprehensive tests on the 30 female nurses who had had contact with her. Flights to and from King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, according to an official source Wednesday, continue as normal. The source said that all scheduled flights to and from countries with registered cases of swine flu were continuing and that there were no plans to cancel any flights. The source added that authorities at the airport were working with the Ministry of Health in the application of measures to detect contain the virus in passengers arriving from affected countries before they are permitted to exit the facility. – Okaz/SG – Bandar Al-Ahmar and Asim Al-Hudheif also contributed to the report. __
