The swine flu, known globally as N1H1, has hit Ibb governorate in central Yemen particularly hard this year.

In December alone, 54 swine flu cases have been identified and 10 people have died, medical officials in the Ibb’s ministry of health office told Almasdar Online. Medical authorities in Ibb have recorded nearly 150 suspected cases of swine flu and 48 deaths in the governorate. 

Last week, the Houthi-run Ministry of Health stated that 94 people had died from swine flu over the last three months, following accusations that a ministry spokesman had minimized the death toll when he claimed that only 42 people had died in the preceding two months.

Government hospitals in Ibb turned away a patient infected with swine flu earlier this month due to a lack of resources available to quarantine the patient.