Swine flu forces prevention measures in Caribbean

Nearly 160 people are thought to have died from the flu there, as well as a child in the US state of Texas. Other countries around the world to have confirmed swine flu cases are Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Israel and the United Kingdom. Several other cou

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 29, 2009 – There’ve been no cases of swine flu in the Caribbean, but health officials across the region are taking no chances, putting measures in place ranging from banning the importation of pork products to tightening security at their ports of entry. All this as the virus spreads to new areas and the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that it cannot be contained.

Belize, which shares a border with Mexico, has been putting in place precautionary measures to prevent the disease from spreading into the country, particularly since cases have been detected close to the country in the Mexican states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo.

“The Ministry of Health has placed the entire border area on high alert because as everyone knows the swine flu has infected Quintana Roo now and it’s coming this way, so we have to stop it,” Immigration Officer at the Northern Border, Vernon Leslie told Channel5Belize television.

“We are having the preventive equipment in place and anyone coming in, we are properly screening them. We’re investigating where they are coming from. If they are from the epicentre of Mexico City, we stop them and turn them back…We have sent back some people who had flu-like symptoms,” he added.

Caribbean governments have been paying closer attention to visitors to their islands. Several of them have put their ports of entry on alert for travellers arriving from Mexico and other countries where persons have been confirmed as having the virus.

Nearly 160 people are thought to have died from the flu there, as well as a child in the US state of Texas. Other countries around the world to have confirmed swine flu cases are Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Israel and the United Kingdom. Several other countries are investigating suspected cases including Australia, Brazil, France, Chile and Denmark.

Jamaica’s Minister of Health and the Environment, Rudyard Spencer, said the epidemic has serious implications for the country’s economy and a number of measures have been taken, including scaling up surveillance activities at health care facilities and ports of entry, alerting health sector workers to ensure early detection, and stocking anti-virals which have been found to reduce the severity of the disease.

"Although there have been no reported cases in Jamaica thus far, given the porosity of our borders and the unrestricted movement of people and trade, this epidemic has serious implications for Jamaica's economy and a number of its sectors including tourism, education, security and social interaction,” he said. “Consequently, the country has been placed on high alert.”

"Our health systems will remain on high alert. We are already and properly prepared to respond to this public health threat,” Spencer added.

Over in Antigua and Barbuda, the Health Ministry has activated a plan of action that includes stockpiling medication, and taking and testing specimens from people with severe cases of flu or who have been hospitalized because of the illness.

National Security Minister Dr Errol Cort has indicated that the authorities are discussing with officials in other countries what steps they are taking to see if similar action can also be implemented in the twin-island nation.

Trinidad and Tobago has also implemented more stringent measures at ports of entry, screening persons travelling to the twin-island republic from affected countries. Members of the country’s national Under-17 football team, who are currently in Mexico, will be screened upon their return home.

In Barbados, surveillance at ports of entry has also been stepped up.

“We have all the surveillance measures in place so that if something does go wrong we can respond appropriately,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr Joy St John.

She added that it was important for persons entering the island from countries affected by the outbreak to declare that information so that the authorities can deal with the matter appropriately.

“It is important that we have full disclosure,” she said.

The situation is much the same in St Lucia where Senior Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr Merlene Frederick, said officials are being very vigilant.

“There are medical personnel at the ports and they will be screening all passengers coming into the island, and the history of where they have been is very important...The virus has been identified in several parts of the United States where several of our visitors come from,” she said.

Bermuda's Chief Medical Officer Dr John Cann has urged residents to reconsider non-essential travel to North America and other areas hit by the deadly virus.

Although the WHO has stated that people cannot be infected if they eat pork products, the Suriname government has announced a ban on the importation of pigs and pork. Pig farms are also being closely monitored and inspections of facilities increased.

Whatever measures they have announced, all the governments have been urging citizens to take precautions against either contracting the virus or spreading it. They’ve been urging the tried and proven hygienic practices including frequent hand-washing, covering their noses and mouths when sneezing or coughing.

Meantime, in Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, stringent measures are being put in place.

Mexico City has banned restaurants and cafes from serving all food except takeaways and schools across the country have closed and public gatherings are restricted.

Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment at the WHO, Dr Keiji Fukuda, has urged all countries to take the opportunity to prepare.

The organisation has increased its alert level to four – two levels from a full pandemic – and Dr Fukuda said that a pandemic was "a very serious possibility, but it is still too early to say that this is inevitable".