Colombia president Uribe infected with swine flu

[joeblow]

Colombia president Uribe infected with swine flu

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Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe (C), AP photo

Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe has contracted swine flu during a summit of Latin American leaders, a Colombian minister says.

Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio said on Sunday that the 57-year-old leader began showing symptoms of the A(H1N1) virus on Friday, upon returning from a meeting of South American presidents in Bariloche, Argentina.

Uribe returned from the summit on Saturday and is currently being treated at his residence, while continuing to work from his computer.

"This isn't something that has us scared," Palacio said at a news conference.

Public health director Gilberto Alvarez said that there was no need to put the president in isolation and that his condition would be monitored for three days to a week, The Associated Press reported.

The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) summit convened in Argentina on Friday to discuss a deal, which would give US troops access to seven military bases across Colombia.

Colombia has confirmed 621 cases of swine flu, 34 of which have been fatal, Palacio said. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 209,438 lab-confirmed swine flu cases have been reported worldwide.

MMN/SME/MMA