Australia Tests 89 for Swine Flu, Raises Surveillance
Reported April 29, 2009
April 29 (Bloomberg) — Australia is testing 89 people for swine flu and the government has increased surveillance, detention and disinfection powers to combat any outbreak, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said.
Some 89 passengers showing flu symptoms have been detained through airport medical checks and will undergo further tests, while authorities search for 22 people who were on a place from Mexico two days ago, Roxon said in an e-mailed statement.
New measures in Australia include the use of disinfectant on planes and quarantine for people who show symptoms of the disease, Roxon said. Australia has no confirmed cases of the flu, which is suspected of killing 152 people in Mexico and has spread to the U.S, Canada, the U.K. and New Zealand.
It means that we can act nationally, we can act quickly, Roxon said. We want to make sure that all the powers are there, that were ready to act if this takes a dramatic turn for the worst.
New Zealand health services are treating 14 people for swine flu, an increase of three from yesterday. All are from Auckland, have tested positive for type-A influenza and have recently returned from Mexico or North America.
Suspected Cases
Another five cases are suspected, down from eight yesterday, Julia Peters, Aucklands regional public health team leader, said on a conference call with reporters. In total, 179 people are in voluntary isolation.
The World Health Organization raised its global pandemic alert to 4 from 3, its highest since the warning system was adopted in 2005, saying the disease is no longer containable. The virus has been confirmed in the U.K., Mexico, the U.S., Canada and Spain. As of April 27, 152 people have died of flu in Mexico. Twenty of those are confirmed to be from swine flu, Mexican Health Minister Jose Cordova said.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type-A influenza that regularly causes outbreaks among the animals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Three main human flu strains — H3N2, H1N1 and type B — circulate and cause 250,000 to 500,000 deaths a year in seasonal epidemics, according to the WHO. Pandemics occur when a novel influenza A-type virus, to which almost no-one has natural immunity, emerges and begins spreading.