Kiev (dpa) - Ukraine suffered its first death from swine flu, as
the government declared a massive quarantine and control effort to
head off a possible epidemic, the Interfax news agency reported.
The victim was a man living in Ukraine's western Lviv region, said
Health Ministry spokesman Roman Pavliv.
The government announcement one week after reports surfaced of as
many as 30 deaths potentially caused by swine flu, all in Ukraine's
western provinces.
The Health Minister currently was monitoring 22 persons in the
region showing swine flu symptoms, of which one had been confirmed as
suffering from full-blown swine flu, according to the report.
"Unfortunately, we can state that there is in fact a swine flu
epidemic in the country," said Vasyl Kniazhevych, Ukraine's Health
Minister, at a Kiev press conference. "We have a lot of work to do."
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko ordered a massive and
for Ukraine unprecedented disease-control programme to go into effect
immediately in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.
Schools nationwide will close for three weeks, and "all mass
gatherings will be forbidden," Tymoshenko said, in comments reported
by Channel 5 television.
The bans would come at the height of Ukraine's football season and
autumn school semester. They would hinder much political campaigning
planned by candidates in the January presidential elections.
A "full quarantine" will be imposed in seven of Ukraine's western
provinces, with police monitoring the entrance and exit of all
persons, she said. It will block those lacking justification for
travel.
Ukraine's National Security Council, headed by President Viktor
Yushchenko, was to meet on Friday in emergency session to discuss
other anti-swine flu measures, according to a statement on
Yushchenko's official website.
Thirty persons - one a child - who suffered from flu-like symptoms
have died in Ukraine's western provinces since October 19, but the
cause of their deaths "was not necessarily swine flu ... we are still
investigating these cases," Kniazevych said.
Twelve of the victims lived in Lviv province, 12 in the Ternopil
province and six in the Ivano-Frankisk province, according to Health
Ministry data.
Bohdan Oniskiv, a Ternopil region health official, described the
dead as almost all "young, physically healthy people."
Beyond the government figures, between four and seven other
persons suffering from swine flu-like symptoms died in the last week
in Ukraine's Chernovetsky, Rivne, and Ternopil provinces, according
to independent Ukrainian media reports.
Assistance to Ukraine from the World Health Organisation and other
international assistance agencies could be "critical" in limiting the
extent of the swine flu outbreak, but Health Ministry leadership
believes "we have sufficient medical supplies to deal with the
disease," Kniazevych said.
Until Friday, Ukraine had officially recorded only two cases of
swine flu, and no deaths, since the first confirmed infection
identified in June. The first sufferer, who has since recovered
completely, victim arrived in Ukraine from the US.
Copyright 2009 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH