November 4, 2009 - 12:30 AMT
Number of infected with flu reached 250 thousand in Ukraine
The death toll from an outbreak of seasonal and swine flu a flu in Ukraine reached 71 on Tuesday, as shortages of medical supplies continue in the former Soviet republic. The number of infected reached 250 thousand, of whom 83 000 are children.
The epicenter of the ilness was the western Lviv province, where the officially given fatality count from flu infection was 30 people. Other provinces hit by widespread severe flu infections, called by some Ukrainian officials an epidemic, included the Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk provinces, with a total of 28 deaths. Flu was the cause of 12 deaths in five other provinces, all adjacent to Ukraine's western border with the European Union (EU). Three of the victims died of swine flu. The same infection had been confirmed in other 14 people still undergoing treatment.