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Summary
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has announced that he has swine flu. Apart from the fever and a sore throat, I feel well and in good shape to carry out my work by telecommuting, the 68-year-old said in a statement. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who suffers from chronic asthma, is the first head of state known to have contracted the H1N1 influenza virus. He was diagnosed with a mild case of swine flu on Tuesday after having flu-like symptoms for some days. More than 20 people in Costa Rica have died as a result of the swine flu outbreak, which was declared a pandemic on 11 June by the World Health Organization. The president is receiving medical care at his residence and is expected to remain there for a week, his brother and chief of staff Rodrigo Arias said. He had been mediating talks on the Honduran crisis, after President Manuel Zelaya was toppled in a coup in June.
