MOSCOW (AP) — The Interfax news agency quotes Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko as saying that 48 people have died of swine flu in the ex-Soviet nation.
Ukraine closed schools and banned cinema showings and concerts Friday in a bid to stop the epidemic, which Yushchenko says sickened 150,000 people.
The outbreak began in the western Ternopol region, health officials said. Ukrainian media reported severe shortages of anti-flu medication and masks in pharmacies.
The World Health Organization said last week that about 5,000 people have been reported as having died from swine flu worldwide.
The figure is considered an underestimate, since most countries have stopped counting individual swine flu cases.
