The Iraqi health ministry has directed US$30 million in order to prevent the potential spread of the swine flu in the country, an official said on Thursday. So far, Iraq reported no swine flu cases.
According to Sabah newspaper, Ihsan Jaafar Ahmed the head of public health department conveyed that the allocation of the US$30 million is aimed at preventing the infection of swine flu by creating special quarantine areas in local hospitals.
On his part, Sabah Jassem Muzan, the general manger of the Public Veterinary Company, has confirmed that as of Wednesday afternoon, Iraq is free from the swine flu strain. He noted that his company has already taken some precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the swine flu.
In a related matter, official US data has indicated that during 2009 three Arab countries have imported pork meat. According to the American figures, during January – February 2009, the UAE imported a total of 45 ton of swine flesh. The value of these imports amounted to US$139,000. During the same period, Bahrain imported 5 tons of pork meat from the USA in exchange of some US$20,000.
The American statistics didn't elaborate the amount of pork meat imported during the said period by Egypt.
