Monday, May 18, 2009

Egypt to close airports when pandemic alert level reaches Phase 6

[Note date of article]
2009-04-30 16:57:11

CAIRO, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Health Minster Hatem al-Gabali announced that the Egyptian authorities would close the airports and crossings if the World Health Organization (WHO) declared its pandemic alert level to Phase 6, Almasry Alyoum daily reported Thursday.

"Up till now there aren't swine flu suspected cases in Egypt," Hasasn Mohamd, director of Cairo airport quarantine told Xinhua.

"We check every passenger comes from Mexico, not just the Mexicans. We take their contact details, names, addresses, to follow their health conditions," he added.

The WHO on Wednesday raised the pandemic alert level to Phase 5, indicating that a full pandemic is imminent.

The Egyptian government decided on Wednesday to slaughter all pigs in the country immediately in an attempt to avoid the outbreak of the fatal flu that has hit different parts of the world.

The WHO's pandemic alert system includes altogether six phases. Phase 6 is the highest level which means a full global pandemic is under way.

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