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发表于 2009-4-30 10:20:32
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Australia Tests 112 People for Swine Flu, Raises Surveillance
By Jason Scott and Gemma Daley
April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Australia is testing 112 people for swine flu and the government has increased surveillance, detention and disinfection powers to combat any outbreak, the Department of Health said.
Some 90 passengers showing flu symptoms have been detained through airport medical checks and will undergo further tests. Authorities are contacting 15 people who were on a plane from Mexico two days ago with New Zealanders who have been infected, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said in Canberra.
Australia may use thermal scanners at airports and passengers may have to fill out health cards under new provisions, Roxon said. The nation already uses disinfectant on planes and quarantines people who show symptoms of the disease.
“We have no confirmed cases in Australia, but we are prepared to take every precautionary measure needed,” Roxon told reporters in Canberra today, adding that 4,800 passengers entered Australia from the Americas each day.
Swine flu is suspected of killing 152 people in Mexico and has spread to the U.S, Canada, the U.K. and New Zealand.
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.
Extra Powers
Another five cases are suspected, down from eight yesterday, Julia Peters, Auckland’s regional public health team leader, said on a conference call with reporters. In total, 179 people are in voluntary isolation.
In Australia, the New South Wales state government has followed national lawmakers by upgrading the flu in their public health schedule. That increases powers in the state, which has 54 suspected cases of the flu, and will allow medial officers to detain anyone who shows symptoms. As well, 31 people have been tested and cleared.
“This is just precautionary,” state Health Minister John Della Bosca said in a statement. “There is no suggestion we need to use these powers at this time, but we want to be able to respond quickly if the situation changes suddenly.”
Queensland state has 27 suspect cases, Western Australia 12, Victoria 7, South Australia and Tasmania 5 each, and the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory one apiece, according to an e-mailed statement from the health department issued about 7:45 p.m. Sydney time.
Global Alert
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 had 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 between 250,000 and 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.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Perth at Jscott14@bloomberg.net; Gemma Daley in Canberra at gdaley@bloomberg.net |
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