Authorities in pork loving Assam convened a high-level meeting to issue directives to the concerned officials regarding the precautionary measures to be taken.
“We have already alerted all our pig farm managers and the district officials to be alert if any influenza, swine flu is reported among the pigs. It should be immediately treated. They have been asked to keep general surveillance on the pig population of the area,” said Shyamlal Mewara, principal secretary, vet and animal husbandry.
Pig meat is a staple diet of the people of northeast and particularly Assam. Use of pork is customary among many tribes of the state on many religious and auspicious occasions.
The Governments of other states - Meghalaya, Mizoran, Tripura and Manipur have also sounded alert.
Reportedly, three passengers have been admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in New Delhi and are being quarantined for symptoms of swine flu infection.
Two out of the three passengers have been flown in from Chicago and third from London.
Mexico, however, has lowered its estimated death toll from a new strain of flu to up to 101 on Friday from as many as 176 previously. It expressed the hope it may be getting control of an epidemic that has raised fears of a pandemic.
Fifteen countries have confirmed cases of the new H1N1 swine flu virus.
South Korea confirmed its first case at the weekend, a day after Hong Kong reported Asia’s first H1N1 patient and sealed off a hotel where the man had been staying.
Almost all infections outside Mexico have been mild, and only a handful of patients have required hospital treatment.
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