Across Afghanistan, there is a state of emergency. But it's not because of the war that has dragged on for eight years now; it's because of the H1N1 flu.

Schools and universities closed this week and public gatherings are now banned. People everywhere are wearing masks to ward off a disease that few Afghans even paid any attention to a few weeks ago.

That changed on Oct. 28, when a 35-year-old engineer from Kabul died of an H1N1 infection. In the two weeks since, 10 more people have died, while almost 800 are now sickened with the illness.

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health reported Monday that 710 of the 779 cases of swine flu in the nation have been among military personnel. Of them, 320 cases are among foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan, along with another 390 Afghan National Army soldiers, one of whom has died.

Earlier this month, the Afghan government closed schools and universities for three weeks. Sports clubs, public washrooms, and wedding halls have also been closed.

The Afghan government has advised anyone with a fever to stay home from work and those with mild symptoms to wear a mask in public places. Now, blue surgical masks are being seen everywhere from bazaars to tea shops.

Despite the attempts at precautions, H1N1 appears to be spreading. Public Health Minister Dr. Mohammad Amin Fatemi said Monday that while most cases are concentrated around the capital, cases are now being reported in outlying provinces as well.

For many Afghans, there is little to be done to stop the virus. Many of the cities in Afghanistan are overcrowded, while Afghans living in outlying areas often struggle with poor sanitary conditions and high rates of malnutrition.

In addition, water and sewage treatment systems are often primitive or non-existent, making it impossible to wash hands or to take many of the other precautions Canadians take for granted.

Like elsewhere in the world, most cases of H1N1 flu in Afghanistan are mild. But based on global statistics, the virus could still infect up to 22 per cent of the population, or as many as 6.6 million Afghans. Of them, about five per cent are expected to be severe cases.

For those who do end up in hospital with severe disease, the prognosis is rarely good. The electricity system in most parts of the country, including the capital, is unrealiable at best, so running a ventilator or other life-saving medical devices for days at a time is all but impossible.

Antiviral medicine has been sent to a number of Kabul hospitals and clinics, but the Health Ministry says there are only about 50,000 doses. That's in spite of the expectation that up to 300,000 patients could require treatment in coming weeks.

What's more, Afghanistan has no H1N1 flu vaccine. The World Health Organization has a global vaccine donation program, and has promised to provide Afghanistan with 500,000 of the first 11 million doses it receives. But because of global production delays and huge demand, the WHO has not received any of the doses yet.

Afghanistan has asked its international donors for help, but the Canadian government says it has no vaccine to spare. Canadian soldiers in Kandahar began receiving the vaccine last week, along with embassy staff in Kabul.

But Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan Bill Crosbie said Monday Canada can't spare any to Afghans. Crosbie said that intead, discussions are under way to determine what other ways Canada will be able to help Afghanistan fight the spread of the virus.

"There will be a consultation with our own public health officials about what we can provide given the circumstances," Crosbie told The Canadian Press.