Shimla, Aug 19 (IANS) A 34-year-old man died of swine flu in Shimla Thursday, the first death in Himachal Pradesh in more than three months, a health official said.
‘The victim, Anil Kumar, was a resident of Chirgaon in Shimla district. He died at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital,’ swine flu nodal officer Vinod Mehta told IANS.
He said Kumar recently returned from Delhi after selling apples there.
Health Minister Rajeev Bindal had informed the state assembly in a written reply Aug 17 that no case of swine flu has been reported in the state since April. He said 50 people have tested positive for swine flu this year out of 206 samples collected till July 31.
‘The toll due to the disease in the state (till July 31) was 16. Out of these, 10 patients, who belonged to the state, died in hospitals outside the state,’ he said.
The testing facility for swine flu in the state is available at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Shimla and the Central Research Institute at Kasauli in Solan district.
