Asian countries were also on high alert, with the Philippines and Japan tightening health surveillance measures for all passengers.
The Philippines has ordered measures to keep the country safe from the swine flu outbreak in Mexico that could spread around the globe.Health Secretary Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Saturday the immediate step is to heighten quarantine procedures such as thermal scanning of all visitors.
Passengers also will be asked to indicate in a clearance form whether they have been to Mexico.
A large number of Filipinos live in US states close to the Mexican border and many make regular visits to their home country, Duque said.
The virus, called swine flu, is contagious and spreading from human to human, the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a website statement.
At least 68 died and more than 1,000 became sick with flu-like symptoms in the Mexico City region in the past month, said Jose Cordova, Mexico's Health Minister. Authorities are investigating 900 suspected cases.
The new influenza strain, a conglomeration of genetic fragments from swine, bird and human viruses, is the biggest threat of a large-scale flu pandemic since bird flu, said William Schaffner, an influenza expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.
The World Health Organization (WHO) went on high alert, dispatching top experts to the United States and Mexico amid concern that the new virus could beco
me a global epidemic.
We are taking this very seriously," said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for WHO. The disease is affecting "otherwise healthy adults," he said.
The United Nations agency hasn't labelled the situation a pandemic - a concentrated outbreak across multiple countries.
A large number of Filipinos live in US states close to the Mexican border and many make regular visits to their home country, Duque said.
The virus, called swine flu, is contagious and spreading from human to human, the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a website statement.At least 68 died and more than 1,000 became sick with flu-like symptoms in the Mexico City region in the past month, said Jose Cordova, Mexico's Health Minister. Authorities are investigating 900 suspected cases.
The new influenza strain, a conglomeration of genetic fragments from swine, bird and human viruses, is the biggest threat of a large-scale flu pandemic since bird flu, said William Schaffner, an influenza expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.
The World Health Organization (WHO) went on high alert, dispatching top experts to the United States and Mexico amid concern that the new virus could beco
me a global epidemic.We are taking this very seriously," said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for WHO. The disease is affecting "otherwise healthy adults," he said.
The United Nations agency hasn't labelled the situation a pandemic - a concentrated outbreak across multiple countries.
Courtesy: Gulf News
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