Pleven municipality is the latest region in Bulgaria to be invaded by the influenza, reaching 304 infected for every 10 000 people, thus prompting authorities to declare an all-out state of emergency. All schools and kindergartens have been closed and public activities banned, Dnevnik daily reported on November 5 2009.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev told the Bulgarian Cabinet, quoted by Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on November 5, that more than 100 000 people are affected by the influenza in the country; moreover, he said that laboratories in the country have concluded that in the vast majority of cases of influenza, the culprit is not mere seasonal flu, but indeed, the new H1N1 strain, or swine flu.

Five people have died so far from swine flu across the country, while medical authorities report that five others are in a critical condition. All five deceased are said to have had "parallel ailments" or in some cases "drug addition" which, in conjunction with the virus, had exacerbated their illness, ultimately leading to their death, BNT said. In more than 90 per cent of the cases, however, the strain did not require hospitalisation.

On the flip side of the coin, the strain seems to be losing steam in the Nikopol municipality, according to municipal doctor Kosta Kostov.

Kostov said that seven days ago the number of children in schools and kindergartens contracting the strain was reaching "volcanic proportions", but over the weekend the newly diagnosed carriers numbered 29, whereas on November 2 they were 24.

"There is a decrease and we can conclude that the pandemic here is losing steam," he told BNT.