Apr. 28 – At the recommendation of health experts, Vietnam has established precautionary measures to protect itself from the spreading H1N1 strain of swine flu virus currently affecting people in Mexico and the Unites States.
The country’s disease-control agencies are on high alert and travelers entering the country are required to declare the current status of their health, according to the Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quang Huan.
Head of Vietnam’s Preventative Health Bureau, Nguyen Huy Nga, has said that the swine flu virus has the potential to spread rapidly and appears to be an amalgamation of the bird flu virus, human influenza, and a virus typically found in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Vietnam’s Preventative Health Bureau met with pandemic health experts on Sunday to discuss emergency measures in an effort to prevent and prepare for a possible spread of the virus; which there is not yet a vaccination for.
Health agencies at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport have begun testing the temperatures of arriving travelers.“The spread of the disease by travelers is possible since Ho Chi Minh welcomes a large number of international visitors every day,” Director Nguyen Van Chau of Vietnam’s Department of Health told Thanh Nien News.“The city must take immediate measures to prevent and cope with the dangerous disease.”
He added that medical reports must be submitted daily at ports and preventive and treatment facilities must be ready with sufficient equipment and medicine.
