6 more swine flu cases take the tally to 50

Out of these 50 cases, 16 have been discharged, while the others are undergoing treatment at the identified health facilities.

While the Indian government has maintained that the health authorities are fully equipped to handle the flu and there is no need to panic, the number of people being affected by the flu is slowly but surely on the rise.

Talking of the latest victims to have entered the swine flu register, the health ministry said, “Six new cases of swine flu have been reported - three from Delhi, two from Bangalore and one from Mumbai. All of them have been quarantined at identified health facilities and their contacts are being traced.”

Foreign returned victims
One of the latest victims in Delhi is an acquaintance of a positive case reported earlier this week, thus becoming the fifth case of a human-to-human transfer of swine flu in the country.

The other two latest victims of Delhi are a nine-year-old boy who returned from the U.S. on June 11 and a 28-year-old male who came back from Egypt on June 13.

A two-year-old boy who reached Bangalore on June 14 reported swine flu symptoms including cough, fever, sore throat, and nasal discharge. While the two-year-old boy had traveled to the U.S, the other victim of Bangalore, a 36-year-old man, had traveled to Frankfurt and had returned to India on June 14.

The sixth case, reported in Mumbai, is also a 36-year-old man who returned from New Jersey to Mumbai on June 15. All, but one of the latest victims have thus confronted the virus on their visits to the impacted countries.

Government improves screening
The government has already upped the ante with regard to vigil and screening of all inbound passengers at the airports.

The Indian authorities have also urged the United States to screen all outbound passengers to combat the flu in an efficient manner.