Swiss stock up on anti-swine flu medicine
The government has decided to buy and stock an additional 40,000 packages of Tamiflu to combat a possible pandemic of swine flu.
Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin said Switzerland had enough of the antiviral treatment for its population in a case of a pandemic. Tamilflu is produced by the Basel-based pharmaceutical company, Roche.
Switzerland has recorded 14 confirmed cases of the influenza A/H1N1 illness so far, mainly in people who have returned from North America.
A 29-year-old woman from canton Vaud is believed to have contracted the illness in Switzerland, the authorities announced on Friday.
The head of the Federal Health Office, Thomas Zeltner, has called to extend the list of risk countries, which currently includes Mexico, the United States and Canada, to include the Dominican Republic, Chile, Panama and Australia.
People returning with a fever from those areas should consult a doctor, he said.
Worldwide 22,000 people in nearly 70 countries have been infected with swine flu. At least 125 people have died, according to the Geneva-based World Health Organization.
Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch
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