Afghan swine flu toll rises to eight

Out of that figure we have eight death cases. Eight people have died from swine flu - over 10 days.

Afghanistan's death toll from swine flu has jumped to eight, the health ministry said Thursday, just four days after reporting the country's first fatality from the virus.

Nearly 730 people are infected with the (A)H1N1 virus, public health ministry spokesman Ahmad Farid Rahid told AFP, adding that more than 270 of them were foreigners. These include soldiers based in the country to help the government fight an insurgency.

- Out of that figure we have eight death cases. Eight people have died from swine flu - over 10 days, he said.

The spokesman warned the pandemic could infect more people as - we don't yet have the vaccine. We've asked the UN WHO (United Nations World Health Organization) for it - he added.

On Sunday the government ordered the closure of all schools for three weeks after recording its first swine flu death. The move affects nearly seven million students.

The A(H1N1) virus was first detected in July during a general health check-up among American soldiers stationed at Bagram military base, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kabul.

More than 5,700 people have died worldwide since the pandemic virus was first discovered in April. Most deaths have been reported in the Americas, according to WHO data.

Vaccinations against A(H1N1) influenza have started in more than 20 countries and are safe, according to the WHO.

The WHO on Thursday urged people not to drop their guard over the swine flu pandemic and insisted on the value of vaccination despite the broadly mild symptoms of the virus.