Bucharest, Dec 18: Romania declared a flu epidemic to deal with tens of thousands of cases, one of the state televisions reported. The health ministry has detected about 1,600 cases of flu and 29,000 cases of pneumonia, out of which it reported three outbreaks and decided to seal off hospitals in 14 out of 40 counties. Numbers varied, with some estimates as high as 100,000 cases, including respiratory infections. Bureau Report