19 June 2009

Travellers worldwide caught in swine flu clampdown

SHANGHAI Ã¢â¬' A new travel trend is emerging Ã¢â¬' enforced swine flu vacations.

Sea and air travellers are being detained and put in quarantine as health authorities go to great lengths to stop the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Venezuela has quarantined a visiting cruise ship following an outbreak of swine flu on board.

More than 1,200 passengers and crew will be kept on board the Spanish-owned Ocean Dream, which has docked at the Venezuelan island of Margarita.

Last week the World Health Organisation declared the virus a global pandemic that has spread to 74 countries. There have been some 30,000 cases diagnosed globally and more than 140 deaths.

In Shanghai 80 airline passengers have been under compulsory quarantine in a Chinese hotel and have had their passports confiscated because of a suspected swine flu case on their flight from Australia.

The Air China plane was on its way from Melbourne to London via Beijing when it was detained in Shanghai because a male passenger was running a temperature.

Passengers sitting in the rear third of the flight were taken to a nearby hotel where officials carried out health checks and advised them that they would have to remain in their rooms and be monitored.

And another group of 41 Qantas passengers and crew could be confined in a Shanghai hotel for a week after a Chinese national on board their flight tested positive for swine flu.

Qantas last night confirmed that Chinese health authorities had diagnosed one passenger as having the virus.

"As a result, a number of passengers and a small number of crew have been quarantined, as is a requirement of local authorities," a Qantas spokeswoman said.

In South Korea, members of AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s under-21 lacrosse team were locked in their hotel rooms this week because of swine flu concerns.

And In the UAE, Emirati students could be quarantined abroad before they return home for the summer holidays as part of a plan to combat swine flu.

New procedures are being implemented by the UAE authorities.

Medical teams will be sent to UAE embassies in affected countries such as the US and Australia to screen students using thermal scanners.

The move comes after an increasing number of GCC students abroad were diagnosed with swine flu.