RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi health minister said Saturday that the kingdom will not bar anyone considered high-risk for swine flu from performing the hajj pilgrimage this year, though he urged countries where pilgrims set out from to take precautions.
The hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, has become a concern for world health officials because the density of pilgrims — with shoulder-to-shoulder contact as they pray — has raised fears of a massive spread of swine flu.
The pilgrimage attracts about 3 million people from 160 countries annually and begins this year on Nov. 25, as the winter flu season approaches in the Northern Hemisphere.
The H1N1 flu has killed 66 people in Saudi Arabia, and the government invited international experts, including from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, in June to a conference to examine Saudi measures to prevent the spread of the disease during the Muslim pilgrimage.
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The conference recommended that the elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and children skip hajj this year.
Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabeeah said it is the responsibility of individual countries to enforce those recommendations.
"Saudi Arabia does not ban anyone because hajj is a religious event," al-Rabeeah told reporters. "Saudi Arabia has put in place strong recommendations that we hope individual countries will abide by."
The conference also urged the kingdom to maintain adequate screening for the virus at entry points and recommended that pilgrims receive flu shots at least two weeks before they travel to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the swine flu vaccine once it is available.