Health Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel is being treated at Bir Hospital for swine flu (Influenza A-H1N1).

However, the hospital has yet to confirm that Minister Pokharel has contracted the viral disease. Hospital Director Dr Bhupendra Basnet said the health minister was admitted on Sunday after he was found to have developed infection in the respiratory tract.

“Minister Pokharel is out of danger,” Dr Basnet said. Scores of swine flu cases were detected in the country this season. The virus is said to have claimed 12 lives in the past two weeks.

Swine flu is caused by influenza viruses that infect the respiratory tract. Patients exhibit symptoms such as high fever, dry cough, sore throat, runny nasal secretions, fatigue, loss of appetite, and diarrhoea in children.