Swine flu death toll rises in Afghanistan

PHOTO

A burqa-clad Afghan woman carries her child as she walks past a United Nations vehicle in Kabul on November 5, 2009. WHO has warned the swine flu pandemic is gaining intensity in Afghanistan. [AFP]

Last Updated: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:28:00 +1100

Afghanistan's death toll from swine flu has risen to 11, as the World Health Organization (WHO) reports the virus is gaining intensity in the poverty-stricken nation.

Afghanistan's health minister says nearly 780 people are infected with the H1N1 virus, almost half of them foreigners, including international soldiers deployed in the country.

At the start of November, the Afghan government closed all schools for three weeks after the country's first swine flu death.

Last week the WHO warned the pandemic was gaining intensity in Afghanistan as well as Mongolia, Oman, and Japan.

Swine flu has spread to more than 199 countries and territories and killed more than 6,000 people.