SINGAPORE on Monday deployed thermal scanners at the city's main airport to screen arriving passengers as authorities swung into action against a possible pandemic of deadly swine flu.

The health ministry advised Singapore residents to postpone or avoid non-essential travel to Mexico, where the virus has killed at least 20 people and possibly dozens more, triggering international concern.

Hospitals on alert, AVA tests pork SINCE the Sars outbreak of 2003, Mr Khaw emphasised that developments in the health-care sector meant that Singapore was in 'a much better' position to handle any outbreak. There is also a stockpile of Tamiflu at the ready - a drug which, based on preliminary reports in Mexico and the US, has proven to react with the swine flu virus. ... more

It urged the public to 'maintain high standards of personal hygiene' by washing their hands frequently and urged those who suffer from respiratory illnesses to avoid crowded areas and wear masks.

A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, which operates Changi Airport, said scanners that detect people with a fever were deployed on Monday to screen passengers arriving at the airport's three main terminals.

From Wednesday, the body heat scanners will also be deployed at a terminal used by budget airlines and an airport used by private jets.

The scanners were used to detect fever in arriving passengers after the outbreak of the flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 and more recently in the fight against the bird flu virus.

'Passengers with a higher-than-normal temperature will undergo a more thorough medical assessment,' the health ministry said in a statement, adding that deploying the scanners was a 'precautionary measure.' In addition, notices containing information about swine flu would be posted at immigration counters for incoming passengers, the health ministry said.

Though Singapore has not reported any incidence of the virus, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that it was 'better to play safe'. He told reporters on Sunday that with globalisation, reports of the virus spreading to parts of the United States were a reason for concern.

'It does not mean that it'll definitely become a pandemic. But it's better to play safe and assume the worst, rather than hoping that the worst will never come and when it does, it's too late to respond to it,' he said 'As we learnt from Sars, better to be proactive than behind the curve.' -- AFP

Additional reporting by Kimberly Spykerman and Jalelah Abu Baker