‘Swine’ flu: Nam remains on full alert

HEALTH Minister Dr Richard Kamwi’s cellphone will be switched on 24 hours a day this long weekend as he keeps abreast of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, which has spread to countries around the globe.

‘Duty comes first, but there is no reason for panic at this stage,’ Kamwi said when approached about the latest developments regarding the deadly flu.The Minister said experts at the World Health Organisation’s head office in Geneva (Switzerland) are updating the local WHO office and the Ministry is getting regular information from there.He said the Chairperson of Namibia’s emergency committee, Dr Jack Vries, will have no weekend off as he will also be monitoring developments.On Monday, Kamwi said Namibia was on high alert and had revived the special emergency committee to screen visitors entering the country after the WHO said the new swine flu strain in Mexico is ‘a public health emergency of international concern’.The idea is to quarantine anyone testing positive for the flu strain.A health source said hospitals will also be ordered to notify the head office of patients with flu-like symptoms.South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said yesterday that they are dealing with two suspected cases of people who travelled to Mexico earlier this month and showed flu-like symptoms.It has not been confirmed whether these two people have the swine flu strain.In Mexico the death toll has risen to 152.To date, confirmed cases have been reported in the US, Spain, Scotland, Israel, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and Austria.The UN’s World Health Organisation raised its alert level to stage 4, signalling that the virus is becoming adept at spreading from person to person.The highest level of alert is stage 6, which is reserved for a full-blown pandemic.According to the WHO, the ‘novel flu’, as it is now being called, is a combination of pig, bird and human flu viruses. christof@namibian.com.na