Bulgaria registers first swine flu patient

SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 1 (UPI) -- A Bulgarian who flew back home from New York was registered Monday as the country's first swine flu patient, a Health Ministry statement said.

The man, who was not identified, was doing fine in a Bulgarian hospital and his condition was improving as he responded well to treatment with Tamiflu, epidemiologist Angel Kunchev said.

The doctor said the man had returned to Bulgaria from the United States healthy and his flu symptoms appeared two days later, the Bulgarian news agency BGNES reported.

The Bulgarian man flew back home from New York via Amsterdam Wednesday and first experienced flu symptoms Friday. He was hospitalized Saturday, the Sofia News Agency reported.

The man infected with the H1N1 virus has been isolated in a clinic for infectious diseases. He was receiving adequate treatment and was in a good condition, the Health Ministry statement said. It offered no further details concerning the man's identity nor the hospital's whereabouts.

Bulgarian authorities identified and tested four people who were in close contact with the infected man but none of them showed any flu symptoms. The four remain under constant medical observation, the statement said.