Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah has moved to convene a workshop on swine flu in Jeddah at the end of the current month for specialists from the Kingdom and abroad, with particular attention given to the challenge presented by the large number of pilgrims due to arrive in Makkah and Madina for Umrah and Haj. The announcement coincided with the detection of three more swine flu cases taking the number in the Kingdom to 17. WHO specialists are scheduled to gather with officials from the US Center for Disease and Control and consultants to draw up an integrated monitoring and control system to tackle swine flu. Al-Rabeah said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the workshop was part of the Ministry of Health plan to confront the disease in accordance with WHO measures and regulations. The minister said the Kingdom put procedures into immediate effect at entry points to the Kingdom from the time that the WHO first reported the spread of the swine flu virus. Of the three new patients, the first case was a Saudi student on a scholarship in Australia who arrived in Madina Saturday. The second was a Mauritanian woman, who was in contact with the previously announced Mauritanian male patient. The third was a Malaysian nurse who came in contact with the Filipino nurse suffering from A(H1N1) influenza virus. The Saudi and Mauritanian patients are quarantined at King Fahad Hospital in Madina while the Malaysian nurse is hospitalized at King Fahad Hospital of the National Guard in Riyadh, a Ministry of Health statement said. The ministry called on passengers of Emirates flight number 817 that arrived in Riyadh from Dubai Friday (June 12) and Saudia flight No.1465 that arrived in Madina from Riyadh Saturday (June 13) to contact the Department of Infection Control & Prevention, Riyadh Health Affairs, on 01-4875511 Ex, 333, 319 and 392 if they have fever, cough, running-nose, sore throat, pain in muscles and joints, headache, fatigue and shivering, during the first seven days of their arrival. The ministry advised people to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water for 15-20 seconds, especially after coughing or sneezing, or to rub the hands with sterilized gel, to use handkerchief when sneezing and coughing and cover mouth and nose. __
