21 people kept under bird flu watch

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia on Sunday placed 21 people under medical supervision after they showed symptoms of bird flu, the ministry of health said.

The ministry did not disclose the nationalities of the afflicted persons.

Dr. Hesham Nadra, the director general of health affairs in Riyadh, said there were no reports of people contracting the deadly H5N1 virus.

But the ministry spokesman Dr. Khalid Marghalani said 5 workers in Al Kharj hospital, 13 in Duarma (60km west of Riyadh) and 3 in Al Hayathem (100km southwest of Riyadh) are suspected of catching the H5NI virus.