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Venezuela sends flu-hit Carribbean cruise ship on its way
Caracas (AFP) June 18, 2009 A cruise ship barred from disembarking passengers in various Caribbean islands because of a swine flu outbreak among its crew left Venezuela Thursday after all Venezuelans on board were ordered off. The Ocean Dream, operated by the Spanish leisure group Pullmantur, was to arrive in its final stop of Aruba later Thursday, the company and a governor for northeast Venezuela, Morel Rodriguez, said. A Pullmantur spokesman in Madrid denied to AFP that the ship had been placed under a week-long quarantine, as Venezuelan authorities had initially announced Wednesday when it arrived in the island resort of Isla Margarita. Venezuela's deputy health minister, Nancy Perez, told state television 326 Venezuelans and 55 citizens of others countries had left the vessel late Wednesday. They were to be inspected at home or in hotels for signs of the disease. "An Argentine and a Venezuelan have symptoms and are in quarantine receiving treatment," Perez said. A total of 759 passengers remained on board the ship, along with 400 crew members. They were not allowed to disembark as planned to visit Isla Margarita and were being taken to Aruba. "The rest of the passengers and the affected crew members will get off there," Perez said. Three members of the crew have confirmed infections of the A(H1N1) swine flu virus. Another 11 members had symptoms and were under observation. The Ocean Dream has been bounced around the Caribbean this week as it tried to carry out its nine-day voyage. Grenada and Barbados refused it entry because of the flu outbreak on board. Pullmantur insisted in a statement that "as planned, the ship is following its itinerary to Aruba." Venezuela has around 60 cases of people infected with swine flu. No fatalities have been reported there from the disease, which the World Health Organization last week declared to be a global pandemic. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Saudi faces rising swine flu threat from Muslim pilgrimsRiyadh (AFP) June 18, 2009 Saudi Arabia is gearing up for a possible outbreak of swine flu among millions of Muslim pilgrims this year as four new cases were detected in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina this week, the health ministry said. Three Saudi children in Medina were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, the ministry said on Thursday, while a nine-year-old Malaysian boy was found infected in a hotel near Mecca's ... read more |
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