MOSCOW  — Over 100 people have died in the last three weeks in Russia of complications from flu, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Thursday.

“As of yesterday, 107 people died including four pregnant women and eight children,” Interfax news agency quoted Skvortsova as saying.

All of the victims had not been vaccinated and did not seek medical advice in time, she said, adding that the current death toll means little as the major swine flu epidemic killed 687 people in Russia back in 2009. “Around 4,500 people died of heart attacks, 6,000 of strokes, and 1,000 were killed in road accidents in Russia over the same period,” the minister said.

However, Skvortsova said, the country is well prepared for this year’s flu outbreak and pharmacies have sufficient stocks of anti-viral drugs and protective masks. The minister also predicted the epidemic would peak in the next two weeks and peter out by the end of February.(Xinhua)…[+]

BRUSSELS  – The Zika virus, a mosquito-borne virus which is suspected of causing birth defects, has reached Europe with reported cases found in Britain, Denmark and Portugal.

Last Saturday, Public Health England confirmed that as of Jan. 18, three British travelers associated with travel to Colombia, Suriname and Guyana, have been diagnosed with the Zika virus. Moreover, a Danish citizen who traveled to Latin America and returned to Denmark had been diagnosed with the Zika virus on Tuesday, making it the first case discovered in the country, according to Aarhus University Hospital where the patient was hospitalized. On Wednesday this week, Portuguese authorities also confirmed that five cases of the Zika virus had been diagnosed, according to the National Health Institute Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA).

The five diagnosed in Portugal contracted the virus in Brazil, said INSA. Portuguese Health Minister Adalberto Campos Fernandes said that the Portuguese can be reassured the situation about the Zika virus is under control and the risk is confined.(Xinhua)…[+]