Above about H1N1.
In Costa Rica, fears that swine flu might spread through the crowds of faithful walking to the Basilica de los Angeles in Cartago, the country’s Ministry of Health and Catholic Church agreed to suspend the annual pilgrimage.
Hundreds of thousands of people, some from outside the country, make the annual August 2 pilgrimage to Cartago, the country's first capital. Authorities feared that up to 20,000 people could contract swine flu if the pilgrimage went ahead.
In Saudi Arabia and surrounding nations, the young, old and sick are banned from the hajj.
Health ministers from Arab states agreed to ban children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses from participating in the hajj , an annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia that attracts 3 million people every year to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
The ministers hope the ban, which applies to adults over the age of 65 and children under 12, will reduce the possibility of swine flu contagion during the hajj, which takes place in late November, following peak flu season. A 28-year-old Egyptian woman died from swine flu last week after returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca — the first such death from the swine flu virus in the Middle East.
The World Health Organization reports that deaths from swine flu worldwide have doubled in the past three weeks, from about 330 to over 700. Scientists are working on developing a vaccine before the flu season begins this fall in the northern hemisphere.
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