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Jakarta
24 June 2009
Indonesia reported its first two confirmed cases of the H1N1 swine flu virus. One of the cases is an Australian tourist, who was visiting the island of Bali. Indonesia's Minister of Health says more must be done at Bali's international airport to prevent Australian tourists from further spreading the deadly virus into Indonesia.
Indonesia's Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said in a press conference that a 22-year-old female tourist from Australia and a 37-year-old Indonesian pilot had contracted the H1N1 swine flu virus. The outbreak of this virus began in Mexico in April, has killed 231 people worldwide and infected more than 52,000 people in more than 100 countries. But no cases had been previously confirmed in Indonesia.
2,000 cases in Australia
Indonesia's neighbor, Australia, has had more than 2,000 swine flu cases reported and three flu-related deaths. The Australian tourist who was found to be infected with swine flu was visiting the Indonesian island of Bali, a tourist destination for thousands of Australians.
Minister Supari says more must be done to prevent infected Australian tourists from introducing swine flu into the Indonesian population.
She says she is concerned about tourists from Australia. She said Indonesia made a special effort in handling this case and called for swine flu monitors at Bali's international airport to be more careful in controlling and watching tourists from Australia.
Since the global outbreak of swine flu, Indonesian authorities have increased the use of body temperature scanners at airports in a bid to combat the disease. The H1N1 virus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
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