Nineteen new cases of swine flu were detected by the West Bengal Health Department on Monday. The total number of patients affected by the virus in the State has risen to 61 since July 1.
According to Dr. Asit Biswas, nodal officer of the health department's swine flu wing, condition of two of the afflicted patients is critical.
Dr. Biswas added that 21 of the 61 patients were admitted to the Beliaghata ID Hospital .
A 58-year-old cancer patient had died of the flu on July 20 marking the first death due to the A (H1NI) virus in the State.
The fact is that none of the patients affected has any past record of travelling abroad or coming in contact with anyone who had made a foreign trip.
It has led the doctors to believe that the patients are being infected by a re-assorted strain of the A (H1N1) virus which is a mutated form of the original A (H1N1) virus and which breeds profusely during the rainy season.
