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Asia needs better information exchange on swine flu: health official

ROC Central News Agency

2009.05.12 22:12:46

By Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Asian countries should speed up their exchanges of information on outbreaks of influenza A(H1N1), commonly known as swine flu, Shih Wen-yi, the spokesman for the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) suggested Tuesday.

Shih also said epidemic information exchanges through the International Health Regulations (IHR) are too slowly to prevent the new strain of flu virus from spreading, referring to a Chinese traveler who flew from the United States last week to Japan while infected with the virus.

The traveler was confirmed by the Chinese authorities to be suffering from swine flu after his return to China from Japan. Shih said 23 passengers on the same flight from the United States transferred to a flight from Japan to Taiwan.

According to the CECC, four of the 23 passengers transferred again at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for flights to other regions of Asia. The rest showed no signs of infection and the center has confirmed that 17 are not infected with swine flu, Shih said.

Shih, who is also the deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said there have recently been reports of swine flu cases in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and China.

All the sufferers were found to have contracted the virus in North America before taking flights to Asia, while some passengers on the same flights then transferred to Taiwan without knowing they had shared their flight with infected travelers, Shih said The CDC often learns about the arrival of such passengers from media reports rather than from the IHR reporting system or notification from the health authorities of other countries, he said.

The International Health Regulations (IHR) are an international legal instrument that is binding on 194 countries, including all the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO). Their aim is to help the international community prevent and respond to acute public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide The IHR, which took force June 15, 2007, require signatories to report certain disease outbreaks and public health events to the WHO.

Shih said that if the IHR information platform could transmit data more efficiently, it would be less possible for travelers carrying the virus to enter other countries.

According to the WHO's latest statistics on swine flu outbreaks, as of 06: 00 GMT, May 12, 30 countries had officially reported 5,251 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, with Mexico reporting 2,059 cases, including 56 deaths.

The United States had reported 2,600 cases, including three deaths, while Canada had reported 330 cases.

Taiwan has so far remained free from swine flu infection.