H1N1 Fatalities in Ukraine Generate Travel Restrictions Recombinomics Commentary 15:43 October 30, 2009
Ukraine on Friday closed schools, banned all public events and imposed restrictions on people's movements around the country for a three-week period after confirming its first death from H1N1 swine flu.
"All educational institutions without exception ... will be switched on to a three-week holiday period," Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced. She indicated this period could be extended if it was deemed necessary.
"Apart from this, we will take the decision to cancel all mass meetings ... for three weeks," she said at an emergency government session.
"We will introduce a special system to stop unnecessary travel by people from one region to another," she added.
The above comments describe restrictions in western Ukraine linked to an H1N1 outbreak. The government site lists 30 fatalities, but media reports suggest the number may be closer to 100. The fatal pneumonia cases are been described at multiple locations in western Ukraine (see map), but the total number of infections are unclear. Early reports cited 10,000 cases throughout the country, but the government tally includes 27,300 in the Ternopil Oblast alone.
Thus, the case fatality rate is unclear, but the numbers appear to be rising and may be closer to 100 than the 30 listed in the official tally.
More specifics on the number dead and hospitalized, and sequence data on isolates from the fatal cases would be useful.
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