SWABI, Dec 28: The number of persons infected with swine flu rose to three in the district as another case of the said disease was detected here on Tuesday.

All the three patients were admitted to Shahmansoor Hospital Complex. The representatives of World Health Organisation (WHO) visited the district after detection of the cases and discussed the issue with officials of health department.

District Health Officer Dr Gul Mohammad confirmed that two persons identified as Bakht Bibi and Mohammad Rehman were infected by the virus. The woman hails from the congested Kotha area, while the man belongs to Kala village. The third patient also belongs to Kala village.

“I forgot the name of thirst patient but we admitted him to the hospital,” said a health official.

The official said that samples were taken from a number of people at Kala and Kotha villages and sent to Islamabad for laboratory tests.

It has been learnt that Mr Rehman contracted the infection from his mother, who was suffering from swine flu.

“There is the possibility that some other members of the family are also infected by the virus,” the official feared.

He said that it was the first time that swine flu cases were reported from two areas of the district.

The WHO officials reviewed possible precautionary measures, taken by the district health department, he said. It was decided that the staff of WHO would collect blood sample from each new patient.

They also discussed the continued treatment of the two patients.

The report of laboratory tests would be submitted to the district health department, which would take measures in its light.

The health officials decided to consider each patient belonging to Kotha and Kala as a swine flu patient while patients from the other regions of the district would be kept under watch by the doctors of all hospitals because negligence might cause spread of the flu across the region.