Swine flu "oinks" into Goa

The state of Goa saw its first case of the dreaded swine flu when a man from south Goa was confirmed to be infected with the dreaded influenza A (H1N1) and has been subsequently quarantined at the Chicalim cottage hospital and is being treated as per the directive of the central health agencies.With this latest case diagnosed in Goa the total number of confirmed cases of Swine flu in India have gone up to 15 with Hyderabad accounting for 7 cases, Coimbatore 2, Delhi 5 and Goa 1.

The 41 year old Goan man is known to have travelled to the flu affected regions such as Brussels and London and his swab samples have been sent to the National institute of Virology(NIV) Pune and the National Institute of communicable diseases(NICD) , New Delhi for confirmation.

The director of the DHS Rajananda Dessai confirmed that the samples of the man sent to NIV Pune had in fact tested positive for swine flu and they have now sent the tests back to the NIV and NICD for confirmation. The man has been kept isolated at the Chicalim college hospital and only his wife is allowed to meet him on the condition that she wears a mask.

In the meanwhile another woman hailing from North Goa and who had arrived by flight from Sharjah was taken by the directorate of Health (DHS) officials to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) Bambolim after she displayed some symptoms of swine flu upon being screened at the Dabolim airport by health officials

In a bid to prevent swine flu from hitting the state of Goa the govbernment had taken steps to ensure that international tourists are made to fill up a questionnaire before being screened at the airports prior to their movement into Goa Altogether a total number of 6,675 passengers have so far been screened at the Dabolim international wing of the airport.