swine flu

American & European visitors to be screened for swine flu 28 Apr 2009, 0306 hrs IST, Kounteya Sinha, TNN

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NEW DELHI: Alarmed that the deadly swine flu, which has already taken over 100 lives in Mexico, could reach India, the authorities on Monday decided to screen all travellers coming from the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, France and New Zealand, while advising to avoid ``non-essential travel'' to these flu-affected countries.  The scare of a pandemic that could affect millions across the globe, spurred the Indian authorities to put together a containment plan by deploying doctors at nine airports and ports and making it mandatory for all those arriving from the flu-hit countries to undergo checks for fever and throat infection.  Given that these are fairly common symptoms for all kinds of ailments, expect some confusion at the airports, especially in Delhi and Mumbai which get maximum traffic from these countries. At these two airports, a team of 32 doctors is being put in place and the screening process is supposed to kick in from Thursday.  The other airports indentified for mandatory check-ups are Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Jaipur and Goa. Health ministry officials said that throat swabs would be taken and blood samples collected of travellers who complain of upper respiratory tract diseases and fever. Airport authorities, however, said they are still in the dark and are yet to gear up for these checks.