Swine flu warning over pilgrimage
Arab health ministers have advised the elderly, children and those with chronic diseases to miss the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year to slow the spread of swine flu.
In an emergency meeting in Cairo, the ministers stopped short of calling for the cancellation of the hajj - a duty for all Muslims - which attracts about three million people every year to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Deaths from the H1N1 virus have doubled in the past three weeks, to more than 700 from about 330, according to the World Health Organisation.
The ministers said if a vaccine came out before hajj, pilgrims would have to provide an immunisation report to obtain a visa for the pilgrimage.