A doctor examines a man at the Flu Care Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2021. EPA
A doctor examines a man at the Flu Care Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2021. EPA
A doctor examines a man at the Flu Care Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2021. EPA
A doctor examines a man at the Flu Care Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2021. EPA

Two die from H3N2 influenza in India


Taniya Dutta
  • English
  • Arabic

An outbreak of influenza in India has killed at least two people, officials say.

A highly contagious strain of the respiratory virus, H3N2, is spreading across the country.

An 82-year-old man died in southern Karnataka and one person died in northern Haryana, health officials confirmed.

H3N2 normally affects birds and pigs but can infect humans, according to the Centres for Disease Control, America's public health agency.

Those infected with the virus show symptoms of fever and upper respiratory infections. They may develop a cough, experience nausea, vomiting, chills as well as sore throat and muscle and body aches.

While cases of respiratory illness and fever started in December last year, the infections have been rapidly increasing.

The Indian Council for Medical Research, the country’s top health sciences body, has confirmed that a majority of the patients are infected with the H3N2.

There are at least 90 cases of the virus across the country, according to multiple media reports.

One of the two fatalities, Hire Gowda, of Hassan in Karnataka, died on March 1. His samples were sent for examination and on March 6, it was confirmed that he was infected with H3N2.

The state has at least 26 positive cases of the virus, Chief Minister K Sudhakar confirmed earlier this week.

Hospitals are receiving more patients with symptoms of the virus.

At least 50 people were reportedly admitted to a hospital on Wednesday in Kanpur city in northern Uttar Pradesh with high fever, persistent cough and shortness of breath.

The ICMR released a list of dos and don’ts including urging people to cover their mouth and nose while sneezing and coughing and avoiding touching their eyes and nose.

The first cases of the virus were reported in North America in April 2009.

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The specs

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Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

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Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Power: 640hp

Torque: 760nm

On sale: 2026

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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

ELIO

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Rating: 4/5

Updated: March 10, 2023, 12:24 PM`