Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) urged citizens and residents of Qatar to not to travel to Sri Lanka following an outbreak of Swine Flu in the island nation.

The MoFA put out an Arabic tweet on social media cautioning people from visiting the place as H1N1 is reportedly spreading throughout the Central province, which includes Kandy, a favourite tourist spot, reported The Peninsula.

ونصح المصدر جميع المواطنين #القطريين بعدم السفر إلى جمهورية #سريلانكا إلا في حالات الضرورة القصوى إلى أن تتحسن الأوضاع الصحية فيها.3

— وزارة الخارجية - قطر (@MofaQatar_AR) April 4, 2017

The tweet can be roughly translated as ‘all citizens are advised not to travel to the Republic of Sri Lanka unless it is absolutely necessary till health conditions to get better.’

Meanwhile, Central Provincial Health Service Director Shanthi Samarasinghe told Hiru news site that H1N1 virus was spreading fast in the province. The site reported that 17 people, including two pregnant women, have died during the last three months in the province.

Daily News, another Sri Lankan-based website, put the number of H1N1 patients in the country at 115.

A leading university in the province, Peradeniya University, has shut down indefinitely due to the spread of the viral flu.

MoFA said Sri Lankan authorities have confirmed the spread of swine flu and that many deaths were reported. Accordingly, the ministry has cautioned nationals and residents from travelling there unless it is for grave emergencies. It has asked people to wait until health conditions in Sri Lanka improve.

Sri Lanka has reportedly been very slow in identifying and responding to the crisis. As little as one month ago, Lankan hospital authorities had told Daily Mirror website that they were ‘categorically rejecting rumours circulating on social media websites that Maldivian patients diagnosed with swine flu had been admitted to the hospital and that several of them had died.’