Travel alert as two more Irish tested for swine flu
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TWO Irish people were last night believed to be undergoing tests for swine flu as the Government for the first time advised against travelling to areas worst hit by the potentially deadly infection.
It followed yesterday's confirmation that four people who had returned home from Mexico and the United States had been given the all-clear following tests in the laboratory at UCD.
Dr Tony Holohon, chief medical officer, said yesterday there is no evidence that the flu -- which has killed around 149 people in Mexico -- had reached Ireland.
But he refused to comment on reports that another two people are now being investigated.
Pandemic
The Department of Health will only be revealing any "probable" or "definite" case of the flu infection which the World Health Organisation fears could turn into a pandemic.
However, he said that he was now stepping up travel advice to the public.
He urged that they avoid any unnecessary travel to regions where there have been a large number of cases, including Mexico and certain parts of the United States.
Around 1,000 Irish people are in Mexico at any one time, he said. The caution came as the virus continued its march across the globe, spreading as far afield as New Zealand and Israel and prompting fears that the World Health Organisation may up the threat level posed by the virus to a point one short of declaring a pandemic.
Speaking at a briefing in Dublin yesterday, Dr Darina O Flanagan, head of the National Disease Surveillance Unit, said that it was extending its surveillance of flu through a network of GPs.
These GPs, who would normally suspend surveillance in May, will continue to send samples of suspect cases for testing to allow disease experts to find out what is circulating and how serious it is.
Senior HSE official Dr Kevin Kelleher said a series of information notices on swine flu will also be put up at airports and ports by tomorrow advising people who have flu like symptoms to contact their GP.
Work was also under way to ensure the public is kept informed of events through websites and other means.
He expects that large numbers of samples of suspect swine flu will be sent for testing and GPs were being issued with advice on how to deal with potential cases.
Prof Bill Hall , chairman of the Pandemic Expert Group, said the HSE has 170,000 doses of this winter's flu vaccine in stock and international experts now believe this may provide some protection against swine flu. If that is the case the flu vaccine will be given to front-line health workers who are at risk of catching the illness or passing it on to others.
The virus circulating beyond Mexico continues to be mild and there have been no deaths outside the country.
Contact
Meanwhile, it emerged at Farmleigh in Dublin yesterday that Health Minister Mary Harney and the Northern Executive's Health Minister Michael McGimpsey have been in regular contact about the outbreak of swine flu.
Health departments in Belfast and Dublin have been "in almost hourly contact" to discuss breaking information about the threatened pandemic, journalists were told at the fourth North South Ministerial Council meeting.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
