Planet Pig-Death: The World Races To Contain Swine Flu Outbreak

Apr 27, 2009 6 Comments ›› Pat Dollard

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – New Zealand reported suspected swine flu cases Monday in a second group of teenage students returning from Mexico, as Asian nations with potent memories of SARS and bird flu outbreaks screened travelers for fever with thermal scanners.

Hong Kong assigned a team of scientists to find a quick test for the latest virus to raise global fears of a pandemic, following confirmed human cases of the disease in Mexico, United States and Canada.

More than 100 people in Mexico are believed to have died from the new flu and more than 1,600 sickened, prompting widespread school closures and other measures.

In New Zealand, Health Minister Tony Ryall said two students and a parent among a group of 15 that had just come back from a class trip to Mexico had mild flu and were being tested for swine flu. On Sunday, officials said nine students and one teacher from a separate group that also were in Mexico “likely” have swine flu.

Tests were being conducted at a World Health Organization-registered laboratory in Australia to confirm whether the New Zealand infections are swine flu. Results are expected in the next few days.

Forty people—all the students and some teachers, along with their families—had voluntarily quarantined themselves at home. In addition, Ryall said three small groups of returned travelers were being monitored after reporting flu symptoms following recent trips to North America. He gave no further details.

Prime Minister John Key said everyone showing symptoms was being treated with Tamiflu as a precaution. Other passengers and crew on the suspect flights were also being given the antiviral drug, said health department official Julia Peters.

In Hong Kong, Thomas Tsang, controller for Hong Kong’s Center for Health Protection, said the government and the territory’s universities aim to jointly develop a quick test for the new flu strain in a week or two that will return results in four to six hours, compared to existing tests that can take two or three days.

He said in an interview with radio RTHK that researchers will develop the test based on genetic information from the WHO on the current swine flu virus.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan on Sunday said the outbreak had “pandemic potential” and held teleconferences with staff and flu experts around the world. She urged governments to step up their surveillance of suspicious outbreaks.

Governments including China, Russia and Taiwan began planning to put anyone with symptoms of the deadly virus under quarantine. Other governments were increasing their screening of pigs and pork imports from the Americas or banning them outright.

Many nations issued travel warnings for Mexico.

Australia said airlines would have to identify passengers who may be infected, who would then be assessed by quarantine officers and sent for medical treatment if necessary.

“Before flights will be able to land here in Australia, pilots will have to ascertain whether anyone on board has flu-like symptoms,” Health Minister Nicola Roxon said.

Tests were also under way on people with flu-like symptoms in Israel, France and Spain.

In the United States, at least 11 cases of swine flu have been confirmed. Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones said six cases had been confirmed there, and all had links to people who had traveled to Mexico.

In Singapore, the health ministry said it began using thermal scanners Sunday at Changi International Airport to check passengers arriving from the United States. Travelers with high temperatures would be given a thorough medical examination, it said.

Thermal scanners and upgraded checks for flu-like symptoms were also being put in place at main airports in Japan, Thailand and Indonesia.

Hong Kong and Taiwan said visitors returning from flu-affected areas with fevers would be quarantined.

China said anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arrival had to report to authorities.

A Russian health agency said passengers from North America running a fever would be quarantined until the cause is determined.

Many measures recalled those taken across Asia during the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, epidemic and used more recently to monitor bird flu.

Drawing on their fight against SARS, experts in Hong Kong warned that swine flu seems harder to detect early and may spread faster.

The virus could move between people before any symptoms show up, said John Simon, a scientific adviser to Hong Kong’s Center for Health Protection.

“Border guardings, thermal imaging will not detect much of this flu when it eventually comes through because a lot of people will be incubating,” he said.

A New Zealand student who was among those sickened said her group had stayed with Mexican families in their homes during the last few days of their trip, to better their Spanish language skills.

“Some of us were getting coughs and stuff like that a few days before the end of our trip,” the student, who was not named, told New Zealand’s National Radio.

She said the symptoms were not bothering her so much, but the that official reaction and being quarantined was a strange experience.

“It’s a bit movie-like, it doesn’t really feel real,” she said.