Hyderabad, Aug 11 (Inditop.com) After the reported terror threat, influenza A (H1N1) cast its shadow over the World Badminton Championship here Tuesday with the coach of the Malaysian team displaying symptoms of the viral disease that has killed eight people in India.
Misbun Sidek has been quarantined at the Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital, the nodal centre to deal with swine flu cases here, and his samples have been sent for testing for influenza A (H1N1) virus, organisers of the event said.
“Sidek complained of throat pain last evening. His samples have been sent for testing. We don’t want to take any chance. We are taking all precautions,” Pullela Gopichand, director of the organising committee and Indian team coach, told Inditop.
Since the city has no testing facility, the samples would be sent to National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), Delhi. The reports are likely to be available on Wednesday.
A player from Singapore was also admitted to a corporate hospital Monday evening due to ill-health. Doctors said he had no visible symptoms of swine flu.
The Malaysian coach was found with swine flu symptoms at a time when the virus has created a scare in parts of India, claiming eight lives.
Andhra Pradesh has so far recorded 76 swine flu cases. However, no one has died of the virus in the state. India’s first confirmed swine flu case was detected here on May 16.
Some policemen at the venue of the badminton championship were seen wearing masks Monday night.
More than 250 players from 42 countries are competing in the six-day event that began Monday. The championship is the first of the series of world-class sporting events that India would be hosting ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
In view of the increasing number of swine flu cases in the country, the union ministry of health and family welfare had last week advised that festivals, sports, religious and political events should be discouraged and cancelled if possible.
The suspected swine flu case has come as another setback to the event after the England team pulled out citing security concerns. The English team returned home Sunday but local police claimed that there was no real threat from terrorists.
rounak