The government in New Delhi on Monday urged young Indians to avoid international travel as a precaution against swine flu.
The advisory came after local health authorities said they were treating around a dozen people for the illness, officially called A(H1N1) influenza, although there have been no fatalities in India.
"Until this disease is controlled globally, I would like to request young people, especially from educational institutions, (from) going abroad," Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters.
"They can suspend their visits for the time being and they can go after two or three months," Azad said, adding his ministry was fully equipped to tackle the flu.
"Medicine is available in plenty and the most important thing is that this disease is 100 percent curable," Azad said.
On Thursday, the World Health Organisation raised its global alert to a maximum six, warning swine flu had reached pandemic status due to its swift geographical spread.
Officials from the Indian chapter of the global body were not immediately available for comment on Azad's travel advisory, made apparently in light of the fact younger people appear to be more at risk of catching the illness.
earlier related report
More than 100 swine flu cases in Hong Kong: official
Hong Kong has recorded its 100th confirmed case of human swine flu, an official said Monday.
The total number of cases in the southern Chinese city now stands at 101 after nine new patients tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, Thomas Tsang, told reporters.
"The virus is now established in Hong Kong," said Tsang, who said two of the new cases could not be connected with other known cases.
Last week, authorities ordered all primary schools in the city to be closed for two weeks after the first cluster of local swine flu cases was found.
When the city discovered its first case, at the start of last month, it started a week-long quarantine of around 300 guests and staff at a hotel where the carrier had briefly stayed.
Hong Kong is very nervous about infectious diseases following the outbreak of the SARS virus in 2003, which killed 300 people here and a further 500 around the world.
The swine flu virus, which was first detected in Mexico in April, has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries, according to the latest WHO figures, with 145 people having died.
Britain on Monday confirmed the first swine flu death outside the Americas and the pandemic has now spread to isolated island communities in Asia.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
