Separatist authorities in the Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia on December 9 ordered schools and kindergartens to close, as fears of a swine flu epidemic pick up pace in the South Caucasus.
The tiny Russian protectorate, whose independence claim remains unrecognized by most of the world, has set aside some $300,000 to ward off influenza viruses, chief among them the H1N1 or swine flu virus, the South Ossetian news agency RES reported.
In the capital Tskhinvali, the epicenter of the 2008 Georgia-Russia war, schools were shut down for 10 days to preempt the potential spread of theH1N1 virus and other upper respiratory tract infections, RES said.
In Georgian-controlled territory, almost 400 cases of the swine flu virus have been reported as of December 9. Health officials claim that the country is on the verge of a pandemic, local television reported.
Neighboring Armenia on December 8 also moved to close down schools to prevent the flu's dissemination.
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