Swine Flu Detected in Guangdong School

Another twenty four pupils in China's southern Guangdong province were found to have contracted A/H1N1 swine influenza on Sunday, pushing the number of infected pupils in the province up to 30.

At present, Guangdong has 111 confirmed cases of swine flu, the most of any province in China. Of this figure, 37 patients have already recovered and have been discharged from hospital, according to Ministry of Health.

Six pupils at the Shipai Township central primary school in Dongguan city developed swine flu, according to the Guangdong Provincial Health Department on June 19, adding none had left the city of Dongguan within 10 days before they came down with the flu, and their movements were restricted to school and home.

On June 21, the provincial health department announced another 24 had been diagnosed with the swine flu, but didn't explain how these pupils had become infected with the influenza.

The school had been ordered to suspend classes for one week and those who have been in close contact with the students have been put under medical observation.

However, when searching for information about (A)H1N1 influenza in Dongguan, the EO on-line found that the website of the local municipal health bureau did not contain any information about the outbreak.

As of June 21, China had detected 414 confirmed cases of swine flu, and experts remain worried that the disease could break out in an epidemic.

On June 17, the MOH published a directive to advise local government about how to respond to the outbreak of swine flu in communities.