Radovan Karadzic, Sarajevo is not your city, and you have no right to say that it is, just as you do not have the right to say in public, even if it’s in court, that someone has dug up bones around Bosnia and brought them to Srebrenica to make a fake graveyard. This is insulting.
Balkans On Alert Over Swine Flu Outbreak
Skopje | 02 July 2009 | By Sinisa-Jakov Marusic
A statue of a girl in the Macedonian capital stands ready against the flu
Experts from all over the Balkans as well as Health Ministers from several states have urged the public not to panic and to refrain from taking antibiotics on their own to counter the reported outbreak of swine flu.
While health officials say the swine flu has so far not been as potent as some similar diseases such as bird flu, causing far fewer deaths, they warn that the risk of new cases is increasing with the coming of summer when people traditionally travel more often.
Bulgaria registered its first case of the influenza June 1 in a man who returned from the United States.
According to the Bulgarian authorities, the total number of those infected with the virus has climbed to 11 today. All of them are reported to be in stable condition.
Macedonia reported its first suspected case of swine flu on Sunday in a four-year-old child from Australia visiting relatives in Prilep. Doctors confirmed the existence of the type A virus in his body but are awaiting final confirmation.
Two more suspected cases have been contained in hospital on Monday and Tuesday; a 15-year-old boy from Australia visiting Prilep and an adult male from the town of Bitola who recently stayed in Germany.
Health officials have quarantined and treated people who have been in contact with the infected and are monitoring at least one other suspected case. Sophisticated equipment to immediately detect the virus is due to start working next week.
This week brought concerns to Bosnia and Herzegovina as well, after Belgrade’s “Torlak” laboratory verified that 24-year old woman from Banja Luka has A (H1N1) virus.
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, which was on Wednesday verified by the “Torlak” laboratory in Belgrade.
The patient's condition is good and she hardly shows any symptoms of the decease, because of which she is treated in the isolation of her home, officials said. Few of her friends and family members have been under observation, but few of those who were tested, proved negative to the virus.
Amela Lolic, deputy Health Minister in the government of the Serb-dominated Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska, told media that after this first case, new cases can be expected to pop up “on daily basis.”
“The epidemic of the new flu we can expect in the fall or winter,” she said. She added that entity and state services are in daily contact and coordinate activities in regard to this threat.
So far, the other Bosnian entity, the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim)-Croat Federation reported no Swine flu cases.
Romania’s Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed a new case of A(H1N1) flu, increasing the number of patients in the country with the virus to 28.
Laboratory tests confirmed a man aged 30, who came from the United Kingdom, had been infected with the virus and was being treated at the Bucharest infectious diseases hospital.
Recently, Romania unveiled a national plan to address a feared flu pandemic, including purchase of additional protection equipment for border police, health care staff and public service staff.
Romania has so far tested around 200 people for the new virus. None of those infected has died.
Two more swine flu cases have been confirmed this week in Montenegro, bringing the total number of cases in that country to six.
The Health Ministry stated that the new cases had been admitted to Podgorica Clinical Centre and to a hospital in Pljevlja.
They are believed to have been infected through personal contact. One was a girl from Pljevlje and the other was the daughter of another swine flu patient from Kotor.
Three other people who came in contact with the Kotor patient received preventive treatment and one more suspected case is being monitored for possible flu signs.
Serbian health officials on Thursday confirmed another four cases of A/H1N1 swine flu virus bringing the country's total number of infected to 15, after the country registered its first case only seven days ago. The virus was detected in a child who came from Canada to the northern city of Novi Sad.
Earlier, officials said that five patients with the A/H1N1 swine flu virus in Serbia are now well while the six others are in a stable condition.
Dr Dragan Djelic from the Institute for infection diseases said use of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu had "had excellent effects" on all those infected.
The Health Ministry has prepared around 3 million euros for eventual necessary therapies and to provide enough supplies of Tamiflu. The government has set up a 24-hour helpline for people with questions about the virus.
So far, Kosovo has not reported any cases of swine flu. But while neighbour states deal with more flu cases, health officials there are also on standby.
The Minister of Health, Alush Gashi, said his ministry was following the recommendations of the World Health Organisation, WHO. “The flu has arrived along our borders. We have therapy for treatment if cases are evidenced here,” Gashi said.
Kosovo said laboratories in Ljubljana and London would be used for medical analysis of suspected swine flu cases. Authorities are urging people to maintain high levels of personal hygiene.
Busy with general elections, the Albanian public does not seem much concerned by the recent new cases of flu in their immediate neighbourhood.
Despite several alarms that proved false in the past, no cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Albania so far, the Health Ministry said.
An Albanian diplomat, the 57-year-old Sami Repishti, who attended the meeting of the Islamic Conference in Damascus, was hospitalized in late May under suspicion of swine flu. But he was later released after the tests proved negative.
There are no reports of swine flu in Croatia either, though officials say they are preparing for a possible outbreak, following WHO instructions.
The Croatian Institute for Public Health has published all the relevant information it has on swine flu on their website, including advice for ordinary people.
Travelers from parts of the world that have seen outbreaks do not have to undergo medical examination on arrival in Croatia. However the Health Ministry urged them to report immediately if they experience any flu symptoms within seven days.
In late April, Croatian authorities reported that an Osijek hospital had quarantined a 22-year-old student who recently returned from the United States with flu-like symptoms but the alarm was proven false later.
According to the WHO, some 6,700 cases of the A(H1N1) flu have been reported in 35 European countries so far. One person has died in Europe from this disease that originated in Mexico.
