AMMAN, Jordan - Jordan, Qatar and Yemen reported Tuesday their first cases of swine flu, all in arrivals from abroad, widening the scope of the disease across a region that had once been largely free of the virus.
Together with new cases reported in several other Middle East countries afflicted by the virus, the number of people infected in the region has risen to around 90.
Jordanian Health Minister Nayef al-Fayez said the kingdom's first cases were two young girls who arrived on separate flights Sunday.
The al-Ghad daily quoted the minister as saying both girls, who live in the United States, showed no symptoms on arrival in Amman. They were later placed in quarantine in a state-run hospital when they became sick and diagnosis was confirmed. Both were doing well, he said.
Jordan called on all passengers on the girls' flights to check themselves for symptoms and report to a local hospital.
Meanwhile, three boys showed swine flu symptoms on arrival in Qatar's capital, Doha, according to the tiny Gulf state's health minister, Abdullah ben Khaled al-Qahtani.
Qatar's official news agency quoted the minister as saying one of the boys was from New Zealand and arrived on Saturday from Austria via Dubai. The other boy was from the U.S. and flew to Doha on Sunday from New York City on his way to Bangladesh. The third was an Iraqi boy coming from the United States
Yemeni Health Ministry, meanhile, said a 16-year old Yemeni student returning from the United States was its first case of the virus.
In Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia authorities also all reported new cases of the flu.
Spokesman for Egypt's health spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin said two Sudanese women and one Egyptian-American child, all coming from abroad, were the latest victims, raising the number in Egypt to 26.
Saudi Arabia also announced three new cases Tuesday bringing the total number of infected people in the Kingdom to 17.
Lebanon's cases have risen to nine with health ministry reporting Tuesday two new cases, a woman coming from Canada and a man coming from Australia.
World Health Organization said as of Monday, its Middle East members have informed it about 74 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with new influenza A(H1N1) virus from eight member states in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. The latest cases would bring that number to 88.
Earlier it reported 35,928 people in 76 countries have been infected with swine flu, and 163 have died. Last week, WHO declared a swine flu pandemic -- a global epidemic.
