NAIA alert for bird flu cases stays
By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:35:00 12/17/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Authorities have remained on alert at the Philippines’ premier airport for incoming airline passengers stricken with the dreaded avian flu virus, an official said Wednesday.
“We are strict with our screening process and we are ready in the event of any passenger sick with the disease. We can quickly isolate him and quarantine the plane,” Manila International Airport Authority general manager Alfonso Cusi told reporters in an interview.
According to Cusi, the thermal scanning devices at the arrival areas at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s three terminals are being used full time to detect those with fever, one of the initial symptoms of bird flu.
The disinfection of shoes of arriving passengers, especially those who come from countries where there are cases of bird flu outbreak, will also continue, Cusi said.
Cusi cited MIAA’s standing agreement with the Parañaque City General Hospital for the treatment and confinement of any passengers suspected of being sick with avian flu.
“The sick passenger will be isolated in a special PCGH ward, in accordance with our protocol. Even his seatmates in the plane would be quarantined for observation, just to make sure,” Cusi added.
Last week, authorities in Hong Kong suspended poultry imports for 21 days and slaughtered 80,000 birds after three chickens found dead at a farm on December 8 tested positive for the H5 virus group that causes bird flu.
On December 12, Cambodia’s health ministry confirmed the country's eighth human case of bird flu since 2005. The man was brought to a hospital in the capital Phnom Penh for treatment.
On Monday, Indian authorities said the deadly viral strain of the disease was found among samples taken from dead chickens in the eastern state of West Bengal. The slaughter of fowl is being undertaken in the village of Lorhata.
On Tuesday, authorities in Jiangsu province in eastern China said they killed nearly 400,000 fowl after bird flu was discovered in chickens in the county of Hai’an and Dontai City.
The World Health Organization says there have been 390 confirmed cases of the disease in humans worldwide since 2003. Of that number, 246 were fatal.
Twenty countries had outbreaks of the disease during the first nine months of 2008, down from 25 during the same period in 2007, according to the WHO.
After the Hong Kong outbreak, the WHO urged countries to remain vigilant in outbreak prevention and early detention. Some health experts worry that people were losing interest because the virus had not mutated into a much-feared form that could spread easily among people.
Avian flu remains hard for people to catch, with most human cases linked to contact with infected birds.
hat-tip Shiloh
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