Passengers come under microscope for flu virus at BIA

Stringent screening measures has been put in place, at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, as a precautionary measure to prevent the 'swine flu' virus entering the country, officials said yesterday

An Airport and Aviation Services spokesman said that they have taken a number of steps to prevent the entry of the virus, including screening visitors from countries where the outbreak has been reported.

The screening would be done by Health Ministry officials, in line with the World Health Organization recommendations, they added.

According to Aviation sources travellers from countries such as Mexico, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Newzealand, Canada and other affected countries would be subjected to a special screening with possible plans to isolate any identified positive cases.

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Flu vaccine likely soon, says WHO

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation yesterday said it had “no doubt” that a successful vaccine against the new swine flu virus that could be made in a “short period of time” and in large quantities.

“We have no doubt that making a successful vaccine is possible in a relatively short period of time,” said Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research.

Availability would take “four to six months between the time the virus is isolated to the availability of the first dose,” she told reporters. Kieny said a vaccine would be easy to produce using traditional methods of developing and producing vaccines, as well as more complex reverse genetic technology. Dozens of manufacturers around the world, in both industralised and developing countries, had been approached and were committed to produce a vaccine against the new influenza A(H1N1).

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