Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu inspected a health screening device at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in May

The Ministry of Health Tuesday “strongly recommended” that people from infected zones delay their trips to Vietnam if they have symptoms of the influenza A (H1N1) virus like fever and sore throat.

The advice came after two more people in Ho Chi Minh City tested positive for influenza A (H1N1) Tuesday, raising the number of cases in the country to 17.

Nguyen Van Chau, director of the city’s Health Department, said one of the two cases was a 40-year-old US citizen who arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on flight OZ-731 from the US on Monday.

The man is being treated at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, while authorities are attempting to contact 289 other passengers who had arrived on the same flight.

The other case is a seven-year-old local boy who reportedly caught the infection from two other patients in HCMC who had tested positive for the H1N1 flu on Monday.

Chau said this is the second case of human-to-human infection of the disease in Vietnam. The first case was a woman from Dong Nai Province who remains under quarantine.

Eight passengers arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport Tuesday with temperatures of more than 38 degrees Celsius were quarantined at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Children Hospital No. 1.

The Health Department of Binh Dinh Province reported Tuesday they have quarantined two people with high temperatures on suspicions of influenza A (H1N1) infection, including a 30-year-old man from An Nhon District who had worked in Mexico and returned to Vietnam on May 27. The other case was a four-year-old girl who had a fever after having contact with the man.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism on Tuesday instructed tourism agencies to limit or halt outbound tours to infected zones and undertake preventive measures.

Source: TN, VNA