TOKYO – Asian health authorities were on alert Sunday, with some checking passengers and pork products from Mexico, as the World Health Organization declared the deadly swine flu outbreak a public health emergency of "pandemic potential."
Japan's biggest international airport stepped up health surveillance, while the Philippines said it may quarantine passengers with fevers who have been to Mexico. Health authorities in Thailand and Hong Kong said they were closely monitoring the situation.
China said anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arriving in the country from swine-flu affected territories was required to report to authorities.
Malaysia and other Asian nations said they were awaiting further advice from WHO, whose Director-General Margaret Chan said Saturday the North American outbreak of a never-before-seen virus was a very serious situation with "pandemic potential."
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At Tokyo's Narita airport — among the world's busiest with more than 96,000 people using it daily — officials installed a device at the arrival gate for flights from Mexico to measure the temperatures of passengers.
"We are increasing health surveillance following the outbreak of swine flu," said Akira Yukitoki, an official at the airport's quarantine station. He said more than 160 passengers arriving from Mexico on Saturday were screened by the thermographic machine. No one complained of fever or severe coughing.
The airport also plans to put up special signs for passengers going to Mexico, urging them to "wear masks, wash hands and gargle," Yukitoki said.
"What we have to do now is to see ... whether all cases in Mexico are epidemiologically linked," said Hong Kong's Undersecretary for Food and Health Gabriel Leung. He refused to say whether Hong Kong would implement checks on people arriving from Mexico.
Asia has grappled in recent years with the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has killed at least 257 people worldwide since late 2003, according to WHO. Nearly 45 percent of the global bird flu deaths have occurred in Indonesia, with 115 fatalities.
Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic caused by viruses that mix genetic material from humans and animals.
No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.
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