Botswana to open Swine Flu lab

CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer | Thursday July 30, 2009 00:00

El-Halabi said that towards the end of August, tests will be done locally but still some specimen will be sent to South Africa for validation. Currently, the Ministry of Health sends all specimen of suspected Swine Flu patients to South Africa for testing.

El-Halabi said Botswana has 13 confirmed cases of the disease with five in Gaborone, one in Jwaneng, one in Kweneng East and six in Francistown.

She explained that in the six cases in Francistown two are from Serowe, one from North East and one from Gantsi. She said out of the 13 cases in the country, seven are male and six are female in the age range of 12-49. 

She stated that all the patients had either traveled outside the country or had contact with those who travelled.

El-Halabi said that all the Swine Flu patients have been released from hospital and there have been no deaths.

She however pointed out that the cases will keep on increasing and there will be a time when only severe cases of suspected Swine Flu will be tested. 'The public is advised to continue taking care of themselves, especially their personal hygiene and to stay at home if they are sick to minimise transmitting the disease,' she said. Signs and symptoms of Swine Flu are fever, sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, chills, headache, body aches and fatigue.