DUSHANBE, April 27, 2009, Asia-Plus – The probability of spread of a new swine flu virus to Tajikistan is very low because Tajikistan does not import pork, the country’s head sanitary physician Azam Mirzoyev said in an interview with Asia-Plus, commenting the swine flu outbreak in Mexico.
“However, staff members at airports and railway stations are informed of symptoms of this disease and any arriving passenger having high temperature will be hospitalized for examination,” said Mirzoyev, “All this is done in accordance with avian influenza program.”
The source at the Customs Service confirmed that Tajikistan did not import meat and any meat products, in particular pork, from Mexico and the United States.
Swine influenza virus (referred to as SIV) refers to influenza cases that are caused by Orthomyxoviruses endemic to pig population. SIV strains isolated to date have been classified either as Influenzavirus C or one of the virus subtypes of the genus Influenzavirus A. Swine flu infects people every year and is found typically in people who have been in contact with pigs, although there have been cases of person-to-person transmission. Symptoms include fever, disorientation, stiffness of the joints, vomiting, and loss of consciousness ending in death.
In the meantime, international media report that governments around the world have been hurrying to contain the spread of a new swine flu virus after outbreaks were reported in Mexico, the US and Canada. At least 100 people are now suspected to have died of the disease in Mexico.
The UN has warned the virus has the potential to become a pandemic, but said the world was better prepared than ever to deal with the threat. Stocks of anti-viral medicines are being readied and travelers are being screened at some airports for symptoms.
Thus, BBC News today cited Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova as saying that suspected swine flu cases in his country had risen to 1,614 including 103 deaths. Of those, 20 deaths are confirmed to have been caused by the new virus.
The US, where 20 people are confirmed to have caught the virus, has declared a public health emergency. There are also confirmed cases in Canada, and investigations are being carried out on suspected cases in Spain, Israel and New Zealand. In most cases outside Mexico, people have been only mildly ill and have made a full recovery.
The World Health Organization (WHO), the UN”s health agency, has said the swine flu virus could be capable of mutating into a more dangerous strain. The WHO is advising all countries to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations – particularly among young healthy adults, a characteristic of past pandemics.
