Egypt’s swine flu death toll reaches 38

CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt’s Health Ministry says the number of people killed by swine flu in the country since December has reached 38.

In a statement Sunday, the ministry said that more than 1,300 people have been hospitalized after being infected by the virus.

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On Tuesday, the government reported 24 deaths from the virus.

In 2009, the global swine flu pandemic prompted Egyptian authorities to slaughter around 300,000 pigs previously used to dispose of the city’s organic garbage. However, Jason McDonald, spokesman for the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has said that the virus is now most often transmitted from human to human, and not through contact with pigs.