Checking of passengers for bird flu, SARS continues at airport

Regardless of the postponement of the Asean Summit, the Bureau of Quarantine had already announced that it has been conducting a continual monitoring of incoming passengers at the airport to avert the possible entry of dreaded diseases such as the dreaded bird flu.

Airport quarantine chief, Dr. Emmanuel Labella, said the body temperature of every passenger from abroad has been monitored as part of the routine check to spot possible carriers of bird flu or SARS.

The international airport in Mactan is equipped with thermal video cameras that can remotely scan quickly the body temperature of passengers, said Labella.

He said that if a passenger registers a body temperature above the normal 37 degrees Celsius, a quarantine office would examine him or her immediately and trace the medical history of the passenger.

Checking and monitoring of body temperatures is also a procedure required by the World Health Organization to detect theses diseases that have remained a threat to many countries worldwide.

President Gloria Arroyo earlier ordered the strengthening of the bureau for the enforcement of health and safety measures to avert the entry of SARS and bird flu to the Philippines, which to date remains one of the countries in Asia that is free of the dreaded diseases.

The Department of Health had already forged an agreement with hospitals that have the facilities and expertise in handling these diseases.

Labella said that, to date, there are two hospitals in Cebu City that heeded the DOH call to accommodate bird flu and SARS patients. These are the North General Hospital, and the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, he said. - Ferliza C. Contratista