Asia acts against flu threat

South Korea said it would increase the number of its influenza virus checks on pork products from Mexico and the US -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASIAN nations have started taking measures, including quarantines and screening passengers at airports, to combat the the threat of a deadly swine flu which has killed 103 in in Mexico and stoked fears of a global epidemic as new cases cropped up in the United States and Canada.

Some have warned citizens against non-essential travel to North America while others tightened rules on pork imports.

Hong Kong and Taiwan said visitors who came back from flu-affected areas with fevers would be quarantined. China said anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arrival from an affected area had to report to authorities. A Russian health agency said any passenger from North America running a fever would be quarantined until the cause of the fever is determined.

Tokyo's Narita airport installed a device to test the temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico.

New Zealand health officials started screening passengers arriving at Auckland International Airport from the United States and other parts of North America.

Indonesia increased surveillance at all entry points for travelers with flu-like symptoms - using devices at airports that were put in place years ago to monitor for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars, and bird flu.

Malaysia is looking at vaccinating its pig farmers as well as doctors and nurses on the ground. Hong Kong and South Korea warned against travel to the Mexican capital and three affected provinces. Italy, Poland and Venezuela also advised their citizens to postpone travel to affected areas of Mexico and the United States.

Symptoms of the flu-like illness include a fever of more than 37.8 deg C, body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhoea.

The virus is usually contracted through direct contact with pigs, but Joseph Domenech, chief of animal health service at U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency in Rome, said all indications were that the virus is being spread through human-to-human transmission.

No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.

Russia banned the import of meat products from Mexico, California, Texas and Kansas. South Korea said it would increase the number of its influenza virus checks on pork products from Mexico and the US.

China has also joined the fray and banned the import of hog and pork products from Mexico and parts of the US. -- REUTERS, AFP.