French Polynesia - swine flu

Three dead, 10,000 infected with swine flu in French Polynesia

Article published on the 2009-08-22 Latest update 2009-08-22 15:03 TU

NASA image of Rapa Iti in French Polynesia
(Credit: NASA/Wikipedia)

Three people have died and some 10,000 people have been infected with swine flu (H1N1 virus) in French Polynesia, according to local authorities in Tahiti.

Paris has sent reinforcements to deal with the epidemic. Health Minister Nicolas Bertholon said that the three included two women and a baby.

The worst hit area is Rapa, the most southerly island of 600 people in the French Overseas Territory, some 1,300 kilometres south of Tahiti. 

About 260,000 people live in French Polynesia, a French overseas territory annexed by France in 1915.

The World Health Organization reports that 1,800 people have died from swine flu worldwide since April 2009.