Posted: 15 June 2009 0928 hrs
Activists from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), clad in mock hazmat suit, display placards across the US Embassy in Manila, Philippines during a brief protestMANILA - Philippine health authorities have reported the country's first cluster of domestic H1N1 flu cases after a group of primary school students were infected in a remote northern village.
Eric Tayag, chief of the National Epidemiology Center, said the "community level outbreak" was declared Sunday after 11 children in the village of Hilera on Luzon island were confirmed to have contracted the influenza A(H1N1) virus.
"We have declared a community outbreak," in the area, Tayag said in a radio interview Monday.
"We are carrying out mitigation efforts."
The school will remain shut for the next 10 days, officials said.
It was not clear how the students in the isolated community of 1,600 people were infected, but officials said over 90 others who were in contact with the children have also shown flu-like symptoms.
The Philippines has reported a total of 147 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu, but no deaths so far. - CNA/vm
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
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