Epidemic - Europe - Ukraine

Seven flu deaths have been reported in the Ternopol region, the only Ukrainian area having a flu epidemic, head of the regional health department Bogdan Onyskiv told a Tuesday press conference. Doctors explained the deaths of young and physically fit persons with flu complications. The flu epidemic in western Ukraine started two weeks ago, yet the type of the virus is still unknown. “It is possible to name the type of the flu only in ten days. Ukrainian and British doctors are making tests. The final results will be announced once a London laboratory confirms them,” Onyskiv said. The Ternopol region has over 10,000 flu cases. Public events are prohibited, and 109 schools with 42,000 students are under quarantine. Experts explain the early cold and flu outbreak with a sharp drop of temperatures a week before the beginning of the heating season. The region did not have flu epidemics for the past five or seven years. The local residents had no immunity from flu. An increase of the cold and flu rate was reported from all the Ukrainian regions, but the situation is generally stable, a source at the Ukrainian Health Ministry said. The rate is high in Chernigov, Lvov, Kiev, Vinnitsa, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kharkov.