Xinjiang Confirms 22 A/H1N1 Cases

A total of 22 A/H1N1 cases have been confirmed in Hotan in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region as of Sunday, but efforts have been made to control the spread, local officials said Monday.

"There won't be a major outbreak of the epidemic in Xinjiang," Nur Bekri, chairman of the regional government, said on the sidelines of China's ongoing legislative session.

The situation has been under control and no new cases have been reported as of 4 p.m. Monday, said Jeti Imin, head of the Hotan prefectural government.

The first confirmed case was detected in a student from a local school, Jeti Imin said, adding that the student's class has been cancelled and its students quarantined.

According to the region's health department, monitoring results from the first nine weeks of 2012 showed that the ratio of confirmed A/H1N1 cases to flu cases in Xinjiang was higher than that of the same period in 2011 but lower than 2009 and 2010, with no signs of an epidemic outbreak.

A joint circular released on Friday by the region's education and health departments requires all high schools, primary schools and kindergartens to examine their students in the morning and report students with flu symptoms to the health department for a more in-depth examination to prevent the spread of the virus.

The circular said classes with three or more confirmed A/H1N1 cases and schools with seven or more confirmed cases should be suspended for 15 days.