Effective last friday, international air passengers from Hong Kong and Denmark to Malaysia are required to undergo health screening to detect carriers of the influenza A (H1N1) virus.
The precautionary measure was taken as the pandemic had broken out in the two countries after the killer disease first hit Mexico earlier this week. The Director-General of Health Services, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said as of yesterday, 1,517 air passengers and crew from these countries as well as 50 other passengers referred by the Immigration Department had undergone the health screening. However, none of them had shown any signs of infection by the virus and so far, and no report of infection had been reported in the country, he said in a statement here today.
According to the World Health organisation (WHO), the alert level on the pandemic was still at phase five but did not recommend a ban on international travel.
