Nicaragua swine flu outbreak infects 32

At least 32 people have been infected in a flare-up of the H1N1 swine flu virus in Nicaragua over the last week, according to the health ministry.

All of those diagnosed with the disease are in stable condition in public hospitals or have been discharged, public health spokesman Carlos Saez told local media Thursday.

The outbreak has been concentrated in the capital Managua and the adjacent Leon department.

"People should not be alarmed, because the health ministry has taken appropriate measures" to control the virus, Saez said.

Swine flu -- so named because it was first identified in pigs -- has killed some 18,500 people since emerging in an April 2009 pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nicaragua reported 11 deaths in 2009, out of some 2,300 people infected.

(c) 2011 AFP