MAJURO — The Marshall Islands has its first confirmed H1N1 flu cases, joining the growing ranks of remote Pacific islands affected by swine flu.
The Ministry of Health in Majuro announced Tuesday that four Marshall Islands adults have the H1N1 virus.
President Litokwa Tomeing spoke to this nation of 55,000 by radio address Tuesday, confirming the first cases, urging the public “not to panic” and calling on people to comply with Ministry of Health prevention measures.
Majuro Hospital went into a lock-down mode Tuesday, with hospital security preventing entry to the country’s main hospital except through a swine flu screening area outside the front door of the facility. This resulted in big lines as patients waited to be screened before entering the hospital.
Acting Secretary of Health Russell Edwards said Tuesday these new security measures at the hospital are an attempt to control the spread of the virus. He said ministry staff will be communicating with local churches that are currently holding large summer conventions for youth members and pastors in an effort to enlist their support to contain the spread. “We have about 2,000 doses of Tamiflu on hand,” Edwards said, adding that additional medication is on order and expected to arrive soon.
The four cases were confirmed Tuesday when off-island laboratory test results were returned to Majuro Hospital.
Health officials are concerned about rapid spread in the crowded capital, where an estimated 32,000 people live on about six square miles of land.
In 2003, a measles outbreak in the Marshall Islands spread to more than 1,000 islanders, killing two before an emergency vaccination program halted it.
With the four H1N1 cases, the Marshall Islands joins Guam, Palau, Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, New Caledonia and French Polynesia with confirmed cases in the Pacific islands.
