Travelers must checkup for swine flu after coming abroad

From left: Dr. Sok Touch, Director of Communicable Disease Control Department of Cambodia’s Health Ministry, his deputy Dr. Ly Sovann , UNICEF Chief of Communication Marc Vergara, and Dr. Nima Asgari-Jirhandeh, Public Health Specialist: Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response, of the World Health Organization.

By Chhay Sophal
chhaysophal@yahoo.com

Phnom Penh (29 May, 2009): Cambodia health experts on Friday urge their people and other travelers to have medical checkup after returning home from abroad and immediately report to health centers when they suspect of having deadly A(H1N1).

Speaking in a roundtable discussion organized by Club of Cambodian Journalists, Dr. Sok Touch, Director of Communicable Disease Control Department of Cambodia’s Health Ministry, said the ministry has closely worked with World Health Organization (WHO) and other health organizations to thoroughly follow up the virus situation.

“I would like to appeal our brothers and sisters who return from foreign countries please immediately go to have medical checkup after one week when they suspect of having A(H1N1), especially when your temperature is going high,” he said.

Dr. Sok Touch also hinted that the scanner machines at the airports in both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap just track down on high temperature, not A(H1N1), of people who cross by. He said people who catch the virus of A(H1N1) at the first day look normal but the virus can develop in a few days later.

“We also would like to urge people who arrive at the airports and at the border checkpoints to fill the health form properly and faithfully with the clear contact such as address and telephone number so that we can be aware of your health condition later,” he said.

Dr. Ly Sovann, Deputy Director of the Communicable Disease Control Department, said some passengers never fill the health forms provided by the airports’ staff. “We do not know exactly why they do not fill the health form. They could be either aiming to hide their health condition or unaware of their temperature. They must fill it in,” he urged.

Though Cambodia has not yet affected by A(H1N1) ), the global concern, the health experts say the country has been preparing to prevent the virus as much it can.

“We do not have the virus yet in Cambodia right now but we are trying our best to prevent it with support from WHO and others. Cambodia like other nations has its health monitoring system at the airports and at the border checkpoints to follow up the issue in case there is something unseal,” he said.

On 22nd May after getting information from South Korean embassy, Cambodian health authorities searched for three US citizens who shared a flight from the US to South Korea with a person later diagnosed with the virus. The three arrived in Phnom Penh on 17th May and the Cambodian Health Ministry and WHO said the three passengers did not display influenza symptoms at the time of their arrival.

On 25th May a Japanese couple who showed symptoms of flu after traveling by air from Vietnam to Siem Reap have been confirmed that they just had ordinary flue but not A(H1N1).