(MENAFN- The Post)
MASERU – THE Ministries of Health and Agriculture are at odds over the source of a flu that is sweeping across the country and has caused a public health scare.
The Ministry of Health says tests have shown that the respiratory disease observed in four districts is swine flu, a strain of an influenza virus that causes symptoms similar to those of regular flu. Also known as the H1N1 virus, swine flu originated in pigs but is spread primarily from person to person.
Its signs and symptoms are similar to those of Covid-19 and common flu – coughing, headache, fatigue, sneezing, high temperature, muscle and joint pain and difficulty in breathing.
The Ministry of Agriculture however says the disease is not swine flu but“classic flu that has nothing to do with pigs”.
The Director General of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Relebohile Mahloane, said the illness is human influenza (human to human transmission) and“it is wrong to link it to animals”.
“This illness has got nothing to do with pigs and it's like any classical human influenza and it should be called by its name,” Dr Mahloane said.
He said the Ministry of Health was too quick to make an announcement without proper consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture.
“We could have advised them.”
He said pigs were not sick and“we encourage people to continue eating pork like nothing happened.”
But the Ministry of Health is adamant that the disease is swine flu.
Health Minister Semano Sekatle said 12 of the 40 samples tested at the National Institute of Centre for Disease Control (NICD) Public Health Laboratory in South Africa were positive for H1N1 2009 (Swine flu).
“Covid-19 tests were done but the results were negative hence the need to investigate further and thoroughly,” Sekatle said.
“More investigations on other districts are continuing.”
A mother whose toddler son had flu-like symptoms said doctors told her that he had swine flu. 'Makhalalelo Kisakye said they rushed the boy to Batho-Pele Clinic in Motimposo on Tuesday. When his condition did not improve after injection and some medication, he was transferred to Queen 'Mamohato Memorial Hospital.
“It was then that it was confirmed that he had swine flu and was injected with two doses,” Kisakye said.
She said her mother and her 21-year-old sister were infected as people who spent most time with her son.
“My mother is not in a bad state but my sister's condition is worse to the point that she had to go to the clinic today,” she said.
'Mapule Motsopa
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