Checks at air and sea ports stepped up; public urged to be on guard
South Korea said it would increase the number of its influenza virus checks on pork products from Mexico and the US -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASIAN nations have started taking measures, including quarantines and screening passengers at airports, to combat the the threat of a deadly swine flu which has killed 103 in in Mexico and stoked fears of a global epidemic as new cases cropped up in the United States and Canada.
TOKYO - JAPAN on Monday said it would strengthen airport checks and other border health controls and speed up flu vaccine development to prevent the spread of swine flu from Mexico.
Several companies with operations in Mexico said they had cancelled business trips, travel agencies scrapped tour packages and Tokyo drug stores
reported brisker-than-usual sales of anti-germ face masks.
SEOUL - SOUTH Korea will double its stockpile of
Tamiflu and other anti-influenza drugs following swine flu outbreaks in other countries, a senior health official said on Monday.
The state Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now has enough Tamiflu to treat up to 2.5 million people, around five per cent of the population. --AFP.
Australia orders airport checks
Australia will introduce airport checks for swine flu and has alerted hospital emergency wards and doctors to be on the lookout for the virus, officials said on Monday.
As authorities in Queensland state cleared two people of carrying the virus that is believed to have killed 103 people in Mexico, Health Minister Nicola Roxon held a meeting of the national government's crisis health committee.
SONY Corp and Samsung Electronics are among Asian companies that have restricted travel to Mexico after an outbreak of swine flu killed more than 80 people in the country.
Sony, the world's second-biggest consumer-electronics maker, told employees to avoid Mexico City, said Mami Imada, a spokeswoman at the Tokyo-based company, Bloomberg news reported on Monday. Workers at Hitachi Ltd, Panasonic Corp, Sharp Corp and Samsung have been told not to travel to Mexico, spokespeople at the companies said.
Some have warned citizens against non-essential travel to North America while others tightened rules on pork imports.
Hong Kong and Taiwan said visitors who came back from flu-affected areas with fevers would be quarantined. China said anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arrival from an affected area had to report to authorities. A Russian health agency said any passenger from North America running a fever would be quarantined until the cause of the fever is determined.
Tokyo's Narita airport installed a device to test the temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico.
New Zealand health officials started screening passengers arriving at Auckland International Airport from the United States and other parts of North America.
Indonesia increased surveillance at all entry points for travelers with flu-like symptoms - using devices at airports that were put in place years ago to monitor for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars, and bird flu.
Malaysia is looking at vaccinating its pig farmers as well as doctors and nurses on the ground. Hong Kong and South Korea warned against travel to the Mexican capital and three affected provinces. Italy, Poland and Venezuela also advised their citizens to postpone travel to affected areas of Mexico and the United States.
Symptoms of the flu-like illness include a fever of more than 37.8 deg C, body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhoea.
The virus is usually contracted through direct contact with pigs, but Joseph Domenech, chief of animal health service at U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency in Rome, said all indications were that the virus is being spread through human-to-human transmission.
No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.
Russia banned the import of meat products from Mexico, California, Texas and Kansas. South Korea said it would increase the number of its influenza virus checks on pork products from Mexico and the US.
China has also joined the fray and banned the import of hog and pork products from Mexico and parts of the US. -- REUTERS, AFP.
