A man returning from New York has been confirmed as having the first case of swine flu (H1N1) in Bahrain, Al Arabiya television reported on Monday, citing the Gulf state's health ministry.
Bahrain's Gulf Daily News reported Tuesday that private hospitals were warned with closure by the health authorities "if they undermined Bahrain's efforts to keep swine flu at bay." The newspaper reported that the warning came after one private medical facility sent a patient home after complained on flu symptoms and indicated he had just returned from the US.
On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates said a man who arrived from Canada had been confirmed as the first case there. Kuwait, used by the U.S. military as a logistics hub for Iraq, announced earlier this week that 18 American troops had H1N1 flu.
