BAHAWALPUR: The first-ever swine flu patient was detected in Bahawalpur while another suspect was under investigation at the Bahawal Victoria Hospital here on Friday.

It is learnt that Naheed Shafique of Muslim Town came to see doctors at the BVH the other day. When pathological tests of her blood samples were carried in a laboratory, the virus of H1N1 was confirmed and she was isolated and was put on swine flu treatment by the BVH administration.

The other suspect, Muhammad Yaqoob, a police constable, was admitted to the BVH on Friday and his blood samples were sent to a laboratory at Nishtar Hospital, Multan.

BVH Medical Superintendent Dr Irshad Qureshi confirmed to Dawn that Naheed Shafiq was tested positive with the swine flu virus.

He said the blood tests at the sub-laboratory (in Multan) of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, confirmed that the patient was suffering from swine flu.

The MS said the woman patient was isolated and her treatment started while the blood samples of Yaqoob had been dispatched to Multan’s NIH laboratory for tests.

He said Yaqoob’s preliminary treatment had been started while results of his tests were being awaited.

The MS said three rooms of the dengue ward had been reserved for the suspects of swine flu.

He said the three rooms had a provision of 12 beds for patients and the BVH administration had made arrangements for any emergency patient of the swine flu.

ARRESTED: At least 96 people in the total 197 cases registered under anti-corruption offenses were arrested during the last nine months in the three districts of Bahawalpur division.

This was stated by Bahawalpur division’s ACE Director Ali Akbar Bhatti here on Friday.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2016