LOC22:56
19:56 GMT
CAIRO, May 2 (KUNA) -- The Egyptian Ministry of Health decided Saturday to
turn Al-Matar Mental Health Hospital, east Cairo, into a quarantine area for
any possible victims of infection with the deadly H1N1 virus.
The hospital, located in Heliopolis district is the closest hospital to
Cairo International Airport.
It has been provided with the necessary equipment to receive and treat any
suspected cases among travelers arriving in Egypt, the ministry said in a
press release here.
Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabali is scheduled to pay an inspection tour
of the hospital to make sure of the preparedness of the facility for any
eventualities, it disclosed.
El-Gabali plans to held a chain of meetings to review the precautionary
measures developed by his ministry in coordination with the other state
departments in the face of the fatal epidemic also known as swine flu or pig
flu.
He will meet Minister of Local Development Abdel Salam al-Mahgoub, Minister
of Education Hani Hilal who doubles as Minister of State for Scientific
Research to review the preparations for treating any suspected victim of the
disease.
Al-Gabali will also take part in the emergency meeting of the Executive
Office of the Arab Health Ministers' Council, due in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
next week, the statement added.
Meanwhile, Governor of North Sinai Governorate Maj.-Gen. Mohammad
Abdulfadhil Shusha said that strict medical and veterinary safeguards have
been implemented at all land, sea and air ports of his governorate to ward off
the entry of any suspected cases into Egypt.
His remarks coincided with the announcement of three swine flu cases in
neighboring Israel.
As part of the precautionary measures, the Egyptian authorities started
earlier Saturday culling the nation's estimated 250,000 pigs, the state-run
news agency MENA reported.
One hundred pigs were slaughtered in Alexandria and another 28,000 pigs
have been transported to slaughterhouses in Ard el-Liwa neighborhood, west
Cairo, according to the report. (end)
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