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Madrid – Spain on Monday reported six more schools in the Madrid region have been hit by swine flu, bringing the total to nine, with 96 children diagnosed with the disease.
The health ministry said 76 children at the Isaac Albeniz secondary school in the suburban town of Leganes have now been confirmed to have the A(H1N1) virus.
Local authorities said on 1 June they believe the outbreak began with a girl at the school who apparently picked up the disease during a visit to the United States.
The disease spread to another school in Leganes last week, where 11 pupils are now infected. At the same time, one case was confirmed at a kindergarten in Madrid.
On Monday, the ministry said a total of eight new confirmed cases have also been reported at six more schools – four in Leganes and two in Madrid.
Spain was the first European country to confirm a case of the A(H1N1) virus, and is second only to Britain in the total number of cases on the continent.
The health ministry reported on Friday that 291 people have been diagnosed with the A(H1N1) virus throughout the country.
In its latest bulletin Friday, the World Health Organisation said swine flu had infected 25,288 people in 73 countries since it was first reported last month in Mexico and the United States. It said 139 people have died of the virus.
AFP / Expatica