Gov't to tighten quarantine inspections to guard against swine flu

SEOUL, April 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will tighten quarantine inspections on
all travelers coming from the United States to guard against the spread of the
deadly swine flu, local health authorities said Sunday.

The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), which issued
emergency alerts Saturday, said all passengers getting off planes from U.S.
cities like Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta will be checked for fever and
respiratory problems.
It said those showing symptoms similar to swine flu will be checked with a
detection kit, and those who test positive will be quarantined for observation
and medical treatment.
The measures are being taken because of the considerable travel between South
Korea and the U.S., which has a large ethnic Korean population.
In the past year, there were 2,665 direct and indirect flights between the three
U.S. cities and South Korea. The total number of passengers reached 426,381, with
numbers going up sharply if the tally includes all passengers from the U.S. and
Mexico.
Seoul moved to tighten monitoring and quarantine rules after people living in the
U.S. and Mexico started contracting swine flu, and the World Health Organization
called for measures to prevent the spread of the disease that can easily be
mistaken for the common flu.
Mexican authorities said up to 81 people may have died from the potent
respiratory disease, which regularly occurs among pigs, but has rarely infected
humans. The disease can pose serious health problems since there have been
documented cases of the virus spreading among humans, with medical experts
saying 5-10 percent of cases result in fatalities.
The KCDC, however, said that there is no need to be overly concerned because the
disease responds to existing anti-flu drugs, including Tamiflu and Relenza, if
taken early. The country has maintained a stock of such drugs to treat about 2.4
million people since the country was hit by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
outbreaks.
"A source of concern is that people may mistake swine flu for the common type of
influenza going around, so people who were in the U.S. and suffer symptoms like
fever, coughing and sore throat need to go to clinics and hospitals immediately,"
an official said.
He said attention to personal hygiene could help prevent the disease.
Related to the outbreak, the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service
said Saturday it will tighten quarantine measures for pork from the U.S. and
Mexico.
The service under the farm ministry said U.S. and Mexican pork to be imported
from Monday will be put in quarantine to check for disease.
In the first three months of this year to March, South Korea imported 28,726 tons
of pork from the U.S. and 208 tons of pork from Mexico.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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