Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah will patronize here Saturday a workshop on preventive and precautionary measures for Haj and Umrah seasons in the light of the outbreak of swine flu. A total of 53 swine flu cases have been registered in the Kingdom so far. The workshop comes in implementation of the directives of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to take all preventive and precautionary measures for the health of the pilgrims. Ministry of Health spokesman Dr. Khalid Marghlani said the ministry had completed preparations for the workshop being attended by more than 50 scientists and experts in the field of virology, infectious diseases and influenza from the Kingdom and abroad. Directive has been issued to form a Scientific Committee of Preventive Medicine for Haj and Umrah, headed by Assistant Undersecretary of Ministry for Preventive Medicine. Egypt confirmed the first swine flu case in an Egyptian returning from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah, a newspaper reported Thursday. The 28-year-old man was found to have contracted the A(H1N1) virus during Umrah, Egyptian health ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin said. “The young man, who arrived in Egypt on Tuesday, was transferred to hospital,” Shahin said. Egypt's top cleric Sheikh Ali Gomaa said he would not issue a decree barring Egyptians from making the pilgrimage, but health officials said all returning pilgrims would be quarantined.
