CAIRO: Egypt has become the latest country to warn vulnerable Muslims against pilgrimage to Makkah, after an Egyptian woman back from Saudi Arabia became the first swine flu death in the Middle East and Africa.
Egypt’s Health Ministry “has warned the elderly, pregnant women, children and those suffering from chronic illness not to perform the Haj or Umrah pilgrimages,” the official MENA news agency has reported.
The ministry “has asked pilgrims to delay taking part so that they are not exposed to the risks... of swine flu,” MENA quoted Health Ministry official Amr Qandil as saying.
Egypt’s top mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, has said he would be guided by the World Health Organization and other medical authorities on whether to issue a fatwa barring all Egyptians from making the pilgrimage. Egyptian health officials have said all returning pilgrims will be quarantined.
In Iran, a health ministry official on Tuesday repeated calls for elderly Iranians and children to avoid traveling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage as the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the Islamic republic rose to 16.
“Twelve among them are Umrah pilgrims,” Mahmoud Soroush, head of the ministry’s flu and border prevention programs, said.
Tunisia earlier this month suspended Umrah pilgrimages because of the virus, while reserving judgement on whether the main Haj pilgrimage should be undertaken in November.
Saudi Arabia has pre-ordered millions of doses of vaccines for the rapidly spreading H1NI flu.
