Swine flu outbreak kills 9 in Morocco

An outbreak of swine flu in Morocco has left nine people dead in the past week, the kingdom’s health minister said Saturday.

The spread of the H1N1 virus was “normal” for the time of the year, said Anas Doukkali, quoted by Morocco’s official MAP news agency.

The first death in Morocco from the influenza-type virus was reported by local media on Wednesday, since then, anxious rumors have spread on social media.

“Vigilant efforts continue to detect possible cases in different hospitals across the kingdom,” said government spokesman Mustapha Khalfi.

H1N1 is a respiratory disease contracted through contact between humans and pigs and transmitted between people through inhalation.

A major H1N1 outbreak sparked a World Health Organization pandemic alert in June 2009. It killed around 18,500 people in 214 countries before the alert was lifted in August 2010.