First Swine Flu Case Feared in Bosnia

Bosnia and Herzegovina has reported its first potential case of the A(H1N1) virus, commonly known as the swine flu, Bosnian media reported on Tuesday, citing local health experts.

At an extraordinary press conference on Monday afternoon in Banja Luka, Health Minister of the Serb-dominated Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska, Ranko Skrbic, announced that the first potential patient with swine flu was being treated in the Banja Luka hospital.

The patient is a 24-year-old woman who arrived from Latin America on June 26, and who checked in to the local hospital with mild symptoms two days later. The patient tested positive to the A(H1N1) virus during a so-called quick test, but the final confirmation is expected to come from laboratories in Belgrade and London, where samples were sent, Skrbic said.

The patient's condition is good and she is being isolated and treated in her own home, reports said. Her family members tested negative for the virus, officials said.

The news came amidst growing concerns over a regional swine flu outbreak. So far, 11 such cases were reported in Serbia, with some cases, though fewer, also reported in Macedonia and Montenegro.

Skrbic and other experts urged the public not to panic, stressing that so far the swine flu proved to have lower mortality rate from even ordinary flu. Bosnian officials also stressed that the country is well prepared, with sufficient reserves of appropriate medicines and prepared facilities to accommodation and isolation of potential patients.

Experts also urged the public to avoid panic and to refrain from taking antibiotics or any other medicines that were not prescribed by doctors.

“There is no need for panic, but there is a need for preparedness,” read the title of a front-page article of Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz on Monday.

“After the virus has appeared in our neighborhood, epidemiological control has been strengthened in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Deputy Health Minister of the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim)-Croat Federation entity Safet Omerovic told media.

Yet many Bosnians, concerned with the worsening political crisis, appear to be mostly ignorant of the swine flu threat.

“The situation in Bosnia is so bad that even the swine flu avoids us,” joked one Sarajevo cab driver.
 
According to the World Health Organization, WHO, 6,663 cases of the H1N1 flu have been reported in 35 European countries so far. One person has died in Europe from this decease.

Countries with confirmed cases include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.