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no swine flu in sa team

BELGRADE - University Sport South Africa's (Ussa) executive committee has given their 173-member delegation of athletes and officials in Serbia for the 25th World Student Games a clean bill of health from the swine flu (N1H1) epidemic.

BELGRADE - University Sport South Africa's (Ussa) executive committee has given their 173-member delegation of athletes and officials in Serbia for the 25th World Student Games a clean bill of health from the swine flu (N1H1) epidemic.

There were some fears that more athletes at the tournament might contract the disease after two students, one from Australia and the other from Uganda, have tested positive for swine flu since the start of the Games on June 30.

The affected students have been quarantined in a military hospital in Serbia until further notice.

More than 7000 students from 142 countries across the globe are taking part in this biennial tournament, the second biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games.

All in all about 12000 people are in Serbia for the championships, an event that sports superpowers such as China, Russia, Australia, Japan and the United States use to prepare their athletes for the Olympics.

The assurance by Ussa comes after 11 students taking part in the winter games at the University of Johannesburg from June 29 to July 3 tested positive for the N1H1 virus.

The affected students were taking part in the squash competition.

Ussa president Sanele Madlala said: "We had our yearly winter games at the University of Johannesburg where students from various tertiary institutions took part in the competition.

"We have noted the report from the department of health that 11 of them tested positive for the N1H1 virus.

"We are happy that the South African government, in particular the department of health, is on top of the situation in line with the guidelines of the World Health Organisation. We are delighted all the affected students are recovering at their respective homes and were not admitted to the hospitals as they had no medical complications."

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