MANILA - House Speaker Prospero Nograles suspended work at the House of Representatives from Tuesday noon until Sunday after receiving a report that the Philippines' first reported influenza A (H1N1) death was an employee of the lower House.

“The latest reported casualty is one of our employees. I have already instructed the concerned House officials to coordinate and maintain close coordination with the Department of Health in order to mitigate possible effects on other employees and their families,” Nograles said in a press statement.

He ordered the immediate suspension of work in the House of Representatives until Sunday, June 28, "to allow the sanitation of all the buildings
and other procedural steps needed, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH)."

“Our medical services will spearhead, in coordination with the DOH, all the necessary precautionary steps needed to eliminate further health hazards.  This includes the necessary contact tracing of possible victims and their families,” Nograles said.

The Speaker also urged all employees to report "suspicious incidence or symptoms of said flu virus" among House employees "to help prevent further spread of the dreaded virus."

Two cases in House

House deputy secretary-general Dr. Ramon Ricardo Roque said Tuesday that there were two confirmed cases of influenza A (H1N1) at the House of Representatives.

This includes the Philippines' first H1N1-related fatality, a House employee who worked at the House committee on higher & technical education.

Roque said the second case involves an official who works at the House Congressional Planning and Budget Department (CPBD). This employee exercised self-quarantine and has fully recovered.

He said the House only learned Tuesday morning that the H1N1 fatality was a House employee. He said the victim had pre-existing conditions.

Roque said 49-year-old woman travelled to Kalinga Apayao from June 10 to 12 where she attended a training program with other supervising legislative staff officers. On June 17, she developed flu-like symptoms, and she died on June 19.

He said they still do not know where and how the House employee got infected.

Roque said the second A (H1N1) case of the lower House does not have a history of travel, but got sick after coming from Malacañang.

Work at the House of Representatives will resume on Monday.

Before going home on Tuesday, House employees were reportedly lining up to get their flu vaccine shot at the north wing lobby of the House, even if the vaccine will not help against the influenza A (H1N1) virus.

First in Asia

On Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III announced that the woman died of "congestive heart failure secondary to acute myocardial infarction aggravated by severe pneumonia either bacterial, viral or both." 

He said "a throat-swab revealed that she was positive for A (H1N1)."

It was the first reported influenza A (H1N1) death in the Philippines and in Asia.

Duque also disclosed on Monday that the Philippines had 17 more confirmed cases, which brought the total sum of confirmed cases to 445. The Philippines has the most number of cases in Southeast Asia.

"The new 17 cases involved 8 males and 9 females. The age range of these cases is 11-58 years old, with 19 as median age. Duque noted that 15 of these cases are Filipinos, while the remaining 2 are foreigners. He added that of 3 of these 17 cases have travelled to a country affected with A (H1N1)," the DOH said.

Big leap worldiwde

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation on Monday reported a huge leap in the swine flu pandemic toll to more than 52,000 people infected and 231 dead.

The toll has risen by more than 7,873 cases and 51 deaths since Friday, highlighting the steady spread of the A(H1N1) virus.

Swine flu has now been reported in 100 countries and territories.

And figures yet to be incorporated into the UN health agency's official figures indicate an even higher toll. The Philippines has reported the first swine flu death in Asia, Iran joined the countries reporting their first cases, while Singapore quarantined a Hong Kong football team.

The United States led a group of countries that have seen dramatic increases in cases of virus, according to the new WHO figures.

There were an extra 3,594 cases taking the US total to 21,449 with 87 deaths. Mexico was stable with 7,600 cases and 113 deaths.

But Chile, which is entering the southern hemisphere winter has also been badly hit with 1,190 more cases (4,315), including four deadly.

There have been an extra 805 extra cases in Canada (5,710), where there have been 13 deaths.

Britain remains the worst-hit country in Europe. It has recorded 754 extra cases taking its total to 2,506, including one death.

In Australia there are 237 extra cases at 2,436, with one death. In Japan there are 160 more cases at 850. China has an extra 220 cases at 739. China's health ministry website on Sunday said 414 people had fallen ill with swine flu.

A 49-year-old woman in the Philippines became Asia's first fatality linked to swine flu, health authorities said.

She had been suffering from heart and liver ailments for some time, and the department said in a statement that her infection with the influenza A (H1N1) virus had worsened her condition.

The woman's case had gone undetected until a doctor visited her in her home when she was already in critical condition, the department said.

Singapore on Monday quarantined 18 members of the Hong Kong youth football team after three players tested positive for swine flu ahead of the Asian Youth Games.

Thirteen players, three coaches, a physiotherapist and a team official were placed under quarantine at a suburban beach resort, a Games spokeswoman said.

Singapore authorities quarantined 19 members of the Philippine football squad at the weekend after one player tested positive for A(H1N1).

The spread of swine flu was highlighted when Iran's health ministry reported the country's first virus case in a 16-year-old boy who had just been to the United States, the the official IRNA news agency said.

The WHO said that its figures could not be considered reliable because some countries were no longer keeping total figures while other poor countries did not have the means to reliably detect cases. -- with a report from Carmela Fonbuena, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak, and Agence France-Presse