http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090812/wl_nm/us_flu_arias_3
Costa Rica President Arias contracts H1N1 flu
File picture shows Costa Rica's President Arias walking in his residence after a meeting in San Jose Reuters – Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias walks in his residence after a meeting with Spanish Vice President …
By John McPhaul John Mcphaul – Tue Aug 11, 10:04 pm ET
SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is suffering from the H1N1 virus, making him the first head of state known to have contracted swine flu.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Arias, 68, felt unwell over the weekend and tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, the government said.
Arias is at home and his case is a mild one. "The tests ... show that there is no other complication," Information Minister Mayi Antillon said.
The H1N1 flu outbreak, declared a pandemic on June 11, has spread around the world since emerging in April and could eventually affect 2 billion people, according to estimates by the U.N. World Health Organization. More than 20 people have died of swine flu in Costa Rica.
The government did not name any temporary replacement for Arias, who will be doing some work from home and is likely to be back at his office next week, Antillon said.
"He is fine. He is at home and has been advised to rest until Monday," said Rodrigo Arias, the president's brother and chief of staff.
Some of the president's duties have been given to Cabinet ministers for the moment. Another official said Arias has asthma.
Last month, Arias brokered talks to try to end a political crisis in Honduras after President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a coup on June 28.
Negotiations broke down two weeks ago over whether Zelaya can return to power and Arias' illness is unlikely to affect the situation in Honduras.
Arias won the Nobel prize in 1987 for a peace plan to end Central American civil wars and guerrilla conflicts.
He first served as president from 1986-90 and was re-elected in 2006 on a promise to end corruption and take the small country into a Central American free trade pact with the United States.
Arias broke Costa Rica's decades-old diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2007 to establish ties with rival Beijing, saying his country could no longer ignore China's growing power in the world.
Doctors ordered Arias last year to stop talking for a month due to a vocal chord ailment. He communicated by writing and typing.
