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Taiwan launches on-board flu checks on flights from North America

ROC Central News Agency

2009.04.29 11:51:46

By Deborah Kuo

Taipei, April 29 (CNA) Taiwan began to make on-board checks of passengers on flights arriving from the United States Wednesday in a bid to keep the swine flu virus at bay.

Quarantine officials from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) boarded eight flights from Canada and the United States after they arrived at their gates at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport early Wednesday morning and asked passengers if they had flu-like symptoms, such as coughing or a sore throat.

Since none of the fewer-than-3,000 passengers gave positive answers, they were all allowed to leave the aircraft.

Two of the passengers, however, were found to have high temperatures when they passed a temperature sensor as they headed to the immigration counter.

The quarantine officials later let the two go after excluding the possibility that they were infected with swine flu.

The CDC announced Tuesday that every flight from the U.S.

arriving in Taiwan beginning Wednesday would be subject to a strict on-board screening procedure, as health officials try to prevent the entry of the A/H1N1 virus that is suspected of being responsible for over 150 deaths in Mexico.

The CDC decided to take the unusual step at the instruction of Premier Liu Chao-shiuan and following a resolution of the Executive Yuan's command center to prevent A/H1N1 swine flu outbreaks that have been reported around the world.

The Department of Health (DOH) set up a central command center Tuesday to take preventive measures against the virus and cope with any local outbreaks.

Established at a meeting of cross-government agencies, the center will focus on strengthening surveillance for swine flu at boundary control points and raising travel warnings for the United States and Mexico and other areas affected by the virus, Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday raised its influenza pandemic alert from phase 3 to phase 4 -- just two levels short of a full-blown pandemic -- to indicate that there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus.