亚洲亦需严防猪流感

音频下载[点击右键另存为]
China has suspended flights from Mexico in the wake of the outbreak of H1N1, otherwise known as swine flu. Hong Kong authorities confirmed a Mexican man who traveled through Shanghai had the virus. Local governments are tracking down his fellow passengers to quarantine them.

Flu prevention measures are being introduced across Asia. In Myanmar, thermal sensor cameras have been set up at the airport, and health staff are conducting temperature checks on arriving passengers.

There have been sporadic outbreaks across the continent. South Korea has confirmed its first case, a Health Ministry official said on Saturday. The sufferer was a 51-year-old woman who recently returned from Mexico. In New Delhi, three passengers have been quarantined in hospital for symptoms of swine flu infection.

The World Health Organization said although the virus had reached Asia, the spread had so far been limited. Peter Cordingley is the WHO spokesman for the Western Pacific Region.

"A pandemic seems to be imminent, and governments have to get ready for it. And when we say getting ready for it, we mean looking after the health of their citizens. I don't think there are many ways they can stop it coming in. If you look at what happened with this traveler from Mexico to Hong Kong, he walked through health checkpoints in Shanghai and in Hong Kong, and was not spotted."

So far at least 15 countries have reported 615 infections with H1N1. However, new laboratory data showed fewer people have died from the virus in Mexico than first thought. It's a glint of good news for a world rattled by the threat of a flu pandemic.

Jim Drury, Reuters.