(Updates numbers) CANBERRA, May 27 (Reuters) - An Australian state hit hardest by the H1N1 virus will carry out mass treatment with anti-viral drugs for people suspected of having so-called swine flu as the country's total number of confirmed cases near-doubled to 61. Health authorities in Victoria, where 33 people have been confirmed with H1N1, said they would open special clinics to relieve hospitals and deal with the outbreak, administering anti-viral drugs to anyone with symptoms. The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that nearly 13,000 people in 46 countries have been confirmed infected with the new H1N1 flu strain. [ID:nLQ172490] Australia's national Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the government would not be restricting domestic travel after authorities in New South Wales state were criticised for not isolating hundreds of passengers who disembarked from an infected cruise ship. "We now know that this disease is highly infectious and the community does have to prepare itself for there to be a significant increase in the numbers of cases that are confirmed in coming days," Roxon told reporters in Canberra. Australian authorities have closed six schools and are trying to trace hundreds passengers from the super-liner Pacific Dawn, who on Tuesday were asked to voluntarily isolate themselves after the ship docked in Sydney with two infected children on board. "Authorities are making decisions in difficult circumstances and trying to balance the inconvenience to the public that might be regarded as disproportionate...with the need for us to isolate cases and make sure there isn't any unnecessary spread," Roxon said. (For more Reuters swine flu coverage, please click here: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/swineflu ) (For WHO information on swine flu, go to: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html )
Alleged member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Miguel Angel Beltran, know as "Cienfuegos" is examined by a doctor after his arrival at Bogota's airport late May 22, 2009. ...
