MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

AH1N1 swine flu cases climb to 202, report Venezuelan health officials

Health minister Eugenia Sader said classes could be further suspended

Venezuelan health officials say the number of confirmed AH1N1 swine flu cases in the country has risen to more than 200 people. Health Minister Eugenia Sader says 23 new cases have been diagnosed, raising the nationwide total to 202.

Government officials have reported two deaths since an initial spate of swine flu cases were confirmed last week.

Sader said on Friday that the most cases, 82, have been confirmed in the south-western state of Merida. There have also been 49 people diagnosed in Caracas, along with others elsewhere in the country.

”Yesterday night (Thursday), we had more than 900 people presumably infected with influenza A virus throughout the country and particularly concentrated in Mérida,” the minister told reporters in the context of a meeting at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CLACS).

The minister hinted that suspended classes in Andean Mérida state could extend for “additional two or three days,” depending on the “conditions” to be assessed on Friday.
Between April 2009 and January 2010, the influenza A virus killed 131 Venezuelans.