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THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 10 2010 00:45 | LAST UPDATED Feb 10 2010 00:45 |
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The South African government's "non-response" to the outbreak of swine flu was worrying, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday. "South Africa is a long physical distance from the outbreak, but it would take only one passenger arriving on a long-haul flight to let loose an outbreak here," said the party's health spokesperson and MP Mike Waters. Many countries not affected had declared a health emergency, but South Africa's response has been "muted", besides some general and wikipedia links on the health department's website, he said. Earlier, the Health Department said there were no cases in South Africa, but Waters believed South African authorities should form a committee of representatives from the departments of home affairs, health and transport, to develop a strategy to prevent swine flu from entering the country. On Monday the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the situation regarding the outbreak of the virus, whose symptoms are similar to seasonal flu, was "evolving rapidly", but neither the European Union nor the WHO had advised travel restrictions. Initially the US, Mexico and Canada reported new cases, but on Tuesday news agencies told of cases as far afield as New Zealand and Israel. On Tuesday afternoon it was reported that at least 152 people were believed to have died of the virus in Mexico, and that schools there, as well as in some areas of the US, had been closed. WHO describes swine influenza as a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of pigs, caused by one of several swine influenza A viruses, which sometimes crosses the species barrier to make humans ill. There is no vaccine, but there are medicines available to treat it.  CONTINUES BELOW South African Airways spokesperson Robyn Chalmers said cabin crew had been briefed on the origins and symptoms of swine flu and on how to identify any suspected cases among passengers on international flights. The protocol of the airline, which does not fly to Mexico, but does fly to cities in north and south America, is for cabin crew to alert the captain, who in turn advises air traffic control at the destination that cleaning and disinfection will be required on arrival. "Medical ground support will also be alerted to assist on arrival with the ill passenger," said Chalmers. The airline was working closely with the International Air Transport Association, which was in turn working with the International Civil Aviation Organisation and WHO to help put in place any measures deemed necessary, explained Chalmers. Meanwhile, the Health Department said its plans included having outbreak response teams in all provinces and heightened clinical and laboratory surveillance to identify suspected human cases. It was working closely with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, the Agriculture Department and the WHO. Plans include drafting a "National Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan" as well as influenza case management guidelines. KwaZulu-Natal's Health Department said it was ready to respond to any outbreaks. "Port health acts as the first line of defence by carrying the necessary screening," said spokesperson Leon Mbangwa in a statement. Meanwhile, pork producers moved to assure the public on Tuesday that their products were not affected as the virus was being passed through human contact. Chief executive officer of the South African Pork Producers Association, Simon Streicher said: "We have tested our pigs over the last couple of years for swine flu and all our pigs were negative." South Africa's ports authorities and agriculture departments were expected to make statements later. Meanwhile, in the rest of Africa, Mozambique had placed its ports of entry on high alert, Nigerian authorities said they were ready to cope and Egypt's lower house of Parliament called for about 250 000 pigs there to be slaughtered, new agencies reported. -- Sapa TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
Comments
preventitive measures should be in place to avoid a full-scale disaster. SA govt should adopt the mentality of prevention, rather than dealing with a crisis that could result in people dying...
Thandanani Umlaw on April 28, 2009, 8:37 pm
Oh pulease. even as someone who voted for an alternative to the ANC I think the DA's statement is childish. South Africa is already dealing with a Pandemic. H1N1 is not going to be bigger than AIDS.
di van on April 28, 2009, 10:02 pm
Adequate preparation must include adequate stockplies of Tamiflu (or a generic). Properly-prepared nations have enough five-day doses of this drug to treat at least 25% of their total population should it erupt this afternoon. South Africa, one fears, won't even have a stockpile large enough to treat 1% of the population and will wake up and move only once the fast-acting disease has completely overwhelmed public health services and thousands have succumbed.
Jon Low on April 29, 2009, 12:41 am
I think the SA government is very ignorant regarding the likelyhood of swine flu spreading in SA. The two people here in Scotland weren't in an affected area in Mexico yet have tested positive and are isolated in hospital. I know that there have been people travelling between SA and Mexico so it could so easily come accross. And with winter flu and sniffles becoming more common in SA it could easily go unnoticed and spread!
Silvia VE on April 29, 2009, 10:02 am
Firstly Congratulations to Helen Zille , you are without doubt the NEW Helen Zusman. Born to bring equality to all races in South Africa, tough and not afraid to buck the Government. I am now 64 and the future of the Country does nor hold much hope for me as soon it will be my time to DIE.Firstly there are only 2 things in life not three as often proclaimed Your are born and then you die irrespective of your age. Whatever the great plan is, I have never been able to figure it out. I have done Psychology with UNISA. and am still very perplexed. Like the article The M&G published that we are only one gene from discovery what life is, I promise it will remain just as elusive Darwin's missing link. To the readers what are your opinions ??????????????
Justin Stephenson on April 29, 2009, 10:56 am
If this flu finds its way here, the impact could be devastating, given the sorry state of our public health system. At the very least the airlines should immediately cancel all incoming flights from Mexico... and the USA... and Spain.... and Israel... and New Zealand. Ummm.... Well, what about giving out free masks then?
Mark Crozier on April 29, 2009, 2:57 pm
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