Uzbekistan closes border with Kazakhstan due to swine flu 11/23/09 9:30am

Uzbekistan closes border with Kazakhstan due to swine flu

Very short article, considering there has been no news about this previously - Closing the Border is extreme. I will see what I can find.

Article:

The Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry announced Monday that Uzbekistan had closed their shared border.

The closure is apparently in response to high rates of infection of the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu.

UPDATE 11/23/09 9:45

Another article about it:

ASTANA (Reuters) -- Uzbekistan has closed its border with Central Asian neighbor Kazakhstan to all but citizens of each nation returning home, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said today, as swine flu spreads in both countries.

Kazakh media and residents of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, have connected the move to fears about an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus, but this has not been confirmed by the authorities there.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on November 20 that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and parts of Afghanistan were reporting higher numbers of flu cases.

"The initiative did not come from the Kazakh side," Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a briefing. "There is no official information on the reasons behind this decisions."

Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment.

Tashkent regularly closes its borders with its other neighbors Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan for security reasons before national holidays such as the Constitution Day, marked on December 8.

Parliamentary elections are also due in Uzbekistan next month.

My note*
I have got to say, It sure does seem like all the closing of borders and Swine flu/plague/disease outbreak areas all have some Big Political elections coming up! (2+2 = keeping in control and power?)

Slovakia Closing All Borders With Ukraine - Except For One Road! 11/7/09 7:54pm

Slovakia is closing it's border crossing with Ukraine Except for One Road Border Crossing!

From article:

BRATISLAVA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Slovakia said on Saturday it would close all but one road border crossing with Ukraine on Sunday because of Ukraine's flu epidemic.

Vysne Nemecke, the biggest checkpoint, will be the only one to stay open.

"The reason is the continuing worsening of the epidemic situation in Ukraine," Interior Minister Robert Kalinak told journalists. "This is intended to minimize any eventual outbreak of the disease."

Kalinak said the EU member state's decision was temporary and aimed to protect the bloc.

Doctors and hygienists will be stationed at the border to monitor passengers and have the powers to bar anyone suspected of being infected from entering the country.

Ukraine could delay a January presidential election until May next year because of its outbreak of H1N1 flu, which has killed more than 100 in recent weeks and infected more than 750, 000. (Reporting by Martin Santa; editing by Andrew Roche)

I would say there is a lot more going on that the officials know about in Solvakia. Closing the borders is a Big step!

One thing to think about, notice the Interior Minister of Solvakia said "Disease" NOT Swine Flu! Why did he use that word?

Seems to me, reading between the lines, and using the word Disease says it is Not the Swine Flu, he is worried about!

UPDATE TO THIS POST 11/8/09 2:10PM EST

LATEST ARTICLE ABOUT BORDER CLOSING:

Solvakia and Ukraine Border

From Article:

Vysne Nemecke/Kosice, November 8 (TASR) - Despite the deteriorating epidemiological situation and the high incidence of flu in Ukraine, people are still crossing the Slovak-Ukrainian border, spokesperson for the Border Police Directorate in Sobrance (Kosice region) Agnesa Kopernicka told TASR on Sunday.

Interior Minister Robert Kalinak announced on Saturday that Slovakia would close its border crossing at Ubla (Presov region) on the border with Ukraine as of 7 a.m. on Sunday. As a result, only one border crossing with Ukraine - at Vysne Nemecke (Kosice region) - is still in operation.

According to Kopernicka, on the back of the closure of Ubla, the border police are now expecting heavier traffic at Vysne Nemecke. Prior to the shutdown at Ubla, the number of people crossing at Ubla dropped by one-third while traffic at Vysne Nemecke was down by one-half.

Kopernicka added that Slovakia has asked the Ukrainian authorities not to let people from the worst-hit areas of the country cross into Slovakia.