SWINE FLU OUTBREAK IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

The health officials of Cambodia are on alert, and are prepared for a swine flu pandemic. The government has banned the live pig imports, and especially from a country that has been hit with swine flu.

Government has asked the officials, to check all the people entering India via the main airport hubs of Mumbai, New Delhi, Goa, Jaipur, Kochi, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The main aim is to strictly check the passengers entering from the USA, The UK, Canada, Mexico, France and New Zealand. Till June 6 2009, five cases have been confirmed in India.

The Indonesian government has stopped the import of pigs and began to examine 9 million pigs in Indonesia. Thermal scanners that detect human body temperature have been installed at the ports of entry.

In Malaysia, health screenings are being conducted on passengers traveling to and from Mexico via sea, air and land beginning April 17. They have installed thermal scanners at the international airport. Quarantine rooms had been allocated in 28 hospitals, and the country has stockpiled more than 2 million doses of Tamilflu, as of May 2009.

Maldives has formed a ministerial committee, that supervises the swine flu preventive measures to avoid an outbreak. All tourists arriving at the Malé International Airport on Hulhule Island and the country’s three commercial seaports are being screened.

In Myanmar, the government has inspected preventive measures against the human flu at Yangon International Airport on May 1.

Pakistan officials are conducting precautionary measures at the international airports to check the passengers coming from swine flu affected countries. Doctors check the incoming passengers and, allow entry to only those having no flu symptoms. The major hospitals in all the big cities are on high alert.

In the Philippines, thermal imaging equipment at airports are used to screen the passengers coming from the US for flu symptoms.

The Thai Public Health Ministry had issued a warning to all the residents to avoid visiting the United States and Mexico, that had been hit by the swine flu outbreak. The government has installed thermal scanners in all key airports.

Vietnam ministry of health released an emergency dispatch and urged agencies to take precautionary measures against swine flu. Thermal imaging devices are dispatched to airports and border gates to screen passengers.