All four suspected swine flu victims in Israel test negative

After a sixth Israeli was hospitalized on Wednesday with swine flu symptoms, the health ministry issued a statement declaring that all but two suspected patients had tested negative for the potentially deadly swine flu strain.

A 54-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man were quarantined earlier in the day in separate hospitals after returning from Mexico with flu-like symptoms, but lab results confirmed that they, and two children hospitalized earlier, had not contracted the virus as previously suspected.

As of Thursday, the health ministry will begin disseminating information regarding the disease. In the meantime, the ministry has advised Israelis to take precautions to avoid contracting the virus, recommending that the public be vigilant and maintain personal hygiene. In addition, the ministry has asked anyone who has been in contact with infected individuals to avoid crowds.

Doctor Itamar Grotto was asked whether the threat of infection in Israel has abated, and he replied that "it is still too early to determine whether we have overcome the disease, but fortunately, the threat of local infection has been negated."

"This is an optimistic message," he added, "however, we can't guarantee that more Israelis won't be infected."

Among the Israelis who were thought to have contracted the virus was the 5-year-old niece of Tomer Vagim, the first patient to be diagnosed with the virus in Israel. Vagim had recently returned from Mexico, and had been quarantined for several days before being officially diagnosed with swine flu at the Laniado Hospital in Netanya. The director the hospital announced on Wednesday that the lab tests of the 5-year-old girl had come back negative.

The Netanya hospital also reported that another child had been hospitalized there, but his admittance was not made public. The boy also underwent a series of tests, but they all came back negative for swine flu.

A 9-year-old boy who was hospitalized in the Dana children's hospital in Tel Aviv on Tuesday has also been cleared. The boy had been a passenger on an El Al flight from Newark, along with a 49-year-old man who was confirmed as having contracted the virus upon his return to Israel.

So far, 159 people have died in Mexico, where the outbreak of the virus began, seven of them confirmed as swine flu deaths, and the remainder suspected. A 23-month-old baby also died in a confirmed swine flu infection in Texas. The child was Mexican, and had been brought to the U.S. for treatment.

There are currently 2,498 patients suspected to have contracted the virus around the world, and 19 people have been officially diagnosed with the virus in Mexico. At least 93 people have been confirmed in the U.S., 13 in Canada, 14 in New Zealand, five in Britain, three in Germany, 10 in Spain and one in Austria.

However, health officials told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that all the swine flu infections outside Mexico were classified as mild cases.

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