Haj ends with 5 swine flu deaths
Five people died from swine flu during the hajj, Saudi Arabia said yesterday, a relatively small number considering the event is the largest annual gathering in the world. But some experts warned the true extent of the virus will not be known until pilgrims return to their home countries around the world.
Speaking on the final day of the Islamic pilgrimage, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah said authorities recorded 73 cases – including the five deaths – of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu.
He said only 10 percent of the some 2.5 million pilgrims were vaccinated against the virus. "Our safety precautions have secured a very successful and safe hajj for pilgrims from around the world with no infectious disease outbreaks," Al-Rabeeah said. Saudi officials, along with American and international health experts, worked to curb any outbreak during the hajj. Health officials circulated among the sprawling tent camp at Mina where the pilgrims lived and gave the faithful cheek swabs for testing late
r. They also placed hand sanitizer dispensers on walls in the camps, near public bathrooms and at ritual sites, while pilgrims arriving at Saudi airports were scanned using a thermal camera and offered a free vaccine.
But authorities also are using the pilgrimage as a test case to build a database, watch for mutations and look for lessons on controlling the flu at other large gatherings like the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa. Despite the relatively minor impact of the virus during the hajj, some experts warn there could be cases reported among pilgrims when they return home. Al-Rabeeah brushed aside such concerns yesterday, saying some pilgrims have been in the country for almost a month, far longer than the weeklong incubation period.
They’ve had enough time to show symptoms of swine flu, and that hasn’t happened," he said. But he also stressed Saudi authorities will continue to monitor pilgrims until they leave the country, and urged other countries monitor the pilgrims upon their return home. Yesterday, Muslim pilgrims performed the hajj’s final ritual at the cube-shaped Kaaba – Islam’s holiest shrine.
After three days of throwing stones at walls in the desert valley of Mina in a symbolic rejection of Satan’s temptation, millions of pilgrims crammed into buses and trucks for the short trip back to Makkah to circle the Kaaba, marking the traditional end of the hajj. Many of the men making the pilgrimage had shed their traditional white robes in favor of Western clothing. Many had shaved heads, done on the first day of stoning as a symbol of renewal. The Muslims believe that they are cleared of all sins if they perform a sincere pilgrimage.
A total of 2.5 million pilgrims attended the hajj this year, the governor of the Makkah region, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, told a news conference, according to the state-run SPA news agency. Saudi officials earlier had said they expected this year’s attendance to be higher than last year’s 3 million. But for days, there have been reports that real attendance was lower because of swine flu fears, and Saudi Arabia had recommended that the elderly and very young not come because they are more vulnerable to the virus.
Separately, Saudi emergency services said the death toll from floods that tore through the port city of Jeddah this week had risen to 103, with another 1,400 rescued, the state news agency reported yesterday. Torrents of water inundated the Red Sea port on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia saw some of the heaviest rainfall in years. Many of the victims were drowned or were killed by collapsing bridges and in car crashes.
Civil defence planes flew over the affected areas searching for missing people, the Jeddah authorities said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). No pilgrims attending the hajj 80 km away in Makkah were among the dead, officials have said. Jeddah is the main entry point to the kingdom for pilgrims. Newspapers have repeatedly reported on the poor condition of the sewerage infrastructure of the city, where many people live in unauthorised developments built on dry riverbeds. – Agencies
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