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Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias - Source: Reuters -
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Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is suffering from the H1N1
virus, making him the first head of state known to have contracted
swine flu.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Arias, 68, has a mild case of the virus
which he tested positive for on Wednesday after feeling unwell
at the weekend, the government said.
Arias is at home and plans to do some work from there.
"Apart from the fever and a sore throat, I feel well and in good
shape to carry out my work by telecommuting. I expect to return to
all my duties on Monday," he said in a statement.
The H1N1 flu outbreak, declared a pandemic on June 11, has spread
around the world since emerging in April and could eventually
affect 2 billion people, according to estimates by the U.N. World
Health Organization. More than 20 people have died of swine flu in
Costa Rica.
Arias suffers from asthma. While the vast majority of swine flu
cases have not been serious, infected people who have other medical
conditions are most susceptible to complications.
"The tests ... show that there is no other complication,"
Information Minister Mayi Antillon said.
Some of the president's duties have been given to Cabinet
ministers for the moment.
Last month, Arias brokered talks to try to end a political crisis
in Honduras after President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a coup on
June 28.
Negotiations broke down two weeks ago over whether Zelaya can
return to power and Arias' illness is unlikely to affect the
situation in Honduras.
Arias won the Nobel prize in 1987 for a peace plan to end Central
American civil wars and guerrilla conflicts.
He first served as president from 1986-90 and was re-elected in
2006 on a promise to end corruption and take the small country into
a Central American free trade pact with the United
States.
Arias broke Costa Rica's decades-old diplomatic relations with
Taiwan in 2007 to establish ties with rival Beijing, saying his
country could no longer ignore China's growing power in the
world.
Doctors ordered Arias last year to stop talking for a month due to
a vocal chord ailment. He communicated by writing and
typing.
