IANS

Mumbai/Pune, Aug 6: Swine flu continues to spread in Maharashtra with 30 new cases reported till Thursday morning, raising the total to 172, a senior health official said.

"Nine new cases have been detected in Pune, and four in Mumbai, including a senior state civil servant," Pradeep Awate, head of the Swine Flu Control Room, told IANS.

Among the victims who tested positive is State Excise Commissioner I.S. Chahal, he said.

Chahal had returned from a trip to Britain recently and had complained of swine-flu type symptoms and tested positive at Kasturba Hospital late Wednesday night.

In Pune, two girls from St. Annes High School -- where the first fatal victim of swine-flu Reeda Shaikh studied -- have tested positive, while another girl has been quarantined in Naidu Hospital for suspected H1N1, Awate added.

Reeda succumbed to H1N1 Aug 3, triggering panic in Pune when hundreds of people rushed to government hospitals for precautionary medical check-ups.

Of the 172 cases currently being handled by the state health authorities, Pune has 118, Mumbai 26, Panchgani 25, Thane 2 and Nashik 1.

Satara Collector Vikas Deshmukh toured some of the affected schools in Panchgani Wednesday and then said that the situation in the hill-station was under control.

"We have already combed all the 46 schools, including the 16 residential public schools for suspected cases. In the main affected school, St. Peters High School, a special quarantine room has been set up, and similar rooms are ready in other schools," he told IANS after his fourth inspection in the past 10 days.