By IANS,
Aizawl: A 28-year-old man died of swine flu at a government hospital in Mizoram, making it the first death from H1N1 in the northeastern region, officials here said Friday.
“The report of the throat and swab samples of C.M.S. Dawngliana, who died Sunday in a remote hospital in Mamit district of southern Mizoram, revealed late Thursday that he was infected with H1N1 virus,” Mamit district deputy commissioner Zothankhuama told reporters.
Quoting health officials, Zothankhuama said: “The victim was suspected of contacting virus when he took his relative to Aizawl Civil Hospital for treatment late last month.”
The young man was the fourth in the mountainous state, bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh, to be infected with the virus.
Health officials have decided to screen incoming passengers and people at border checkposts and also at the lone Lengpui airport near here.
Experts have expressed fear that a second wave of swine flu hitting the country would be worse than the first.
The northeastern region reported its first swine flu case in early August when a 19-year-old Manipuri woman fencer and a 17-year-old Meghalaya footballer were tested positive for the swine flu disease.
The Manipuri fencer had returned from a competition in Singapore while the Meghalaya soccer player had returned from Britain. Both of them are now cured.
Subsequently, more than 20 people, including an army soldier and paramilitary troopers, have tested positive for swine flu in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam and Manipur. Some of them are now under treatment in government hospitals.