Turkey reports 1st 2 cases

May 16, 2009
Virus detected in travellers from the United States

ISTANBUL - TURKEY identified its first two cases of the H1N1 flu in a married couple travelling to Iraq from the United States, health officials and local media said on Saturday.

A 26-year-old American man, travelling from the US via Amsterdam, was found to be suffering from the H1N1 virus after arriving at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport en route to Iraq on Friday, Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag said at a press conference that was broadcast live.

Authorities later determined the man's wife was also infected with the H1N1 virus, the NTV television channel said, without saying how it obtained the information. The husband and wife had been quarantined along with other family members and were under observation at a Turkish research hospital, where they were being given anti-viral medication, Mr Akdag said.

Turkey, a major tourist destination, becomes at least the 37th country in the world to report an incident of swine flu. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that 72 people have died from the disease or its complications.

The Iraqi-American family was travelling on a KLM aircraft to Istanbul that was carrying 163 passengers, most of whom are now being monitored for signs of the flu, said Mr Akdag.

The patients' family would be held in isolation at Istanbul's Haseki Hospital until May 21 to determine whether they too are suffering from swine flu, because the virus takes up to a week to manifest itself, Mr Akdag said.

'We know of the existence of a few (passengers) whom we've been unable to contact,' he added. 'They need to be alert so that they can be given preventative medicine and in order to protect others.'

Thermal cameras set up at the Istanbul airport had detected the man had a high fever, and tests at the national laboratory revealed he was carrying the H1N1 virus, Mr Akdag said.

His wife's infection was discovered after she submitted to testing at the hospital, NTV reported.

'Everything is under control,' Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters when asked about the diagnosis of the country's first H1N1 case. 'Everything is being monitored closely.' -- REUTERS