Mumbai airport gets thermal sensors to screen flu patients

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring swine flu a pandemic, health authorities stepped up protective measures in the country even as a six-year-old girl who arrived from the US to Hyderabad via Mumbai tested positive for the virus on Friday, taking the total number of cases in India to 16.

The Mumbai airport, meanwhile, became the first in the country to get a thermal camera on Friday. The health ministry has decided to install four thermal scanners at the Delhi airport too. If effective, other airports will be similarly equipped.

On detecting a person with body temperature above normal (98.6 degree F), the camera sounds an alarm and also captures his or her photograph. A spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Limited said a second camera was expected to arrive next week.

“These scanners are very sensitive to body temperatures and, in case the doctors miss out on any passengers with fever, the machines won’t miss them,” said Vineet Chawdhary, joint secretary, Union ministry of health and family welfare.

The health ministry has asked the ministry of external affairs to deny visas to infected people. All airlines operating in the Indian territory, too, have been asked to check the health status of passengers before allowing them to board planes.

Officials said there was no need to panic as the infection was still at level 4 in India. “There are no reports of cluster formation of the virus anywhere in the country yet. Out of 16 positive cases, five have been treated successfully. The rest are under treatment.

The infection still has not reached a peak here, which means we have sufficient opportunity to carry out aggressive surveillance, screening, isolation of patients and their treatment,” Chawdhary said.

Union minister for health and family welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad assured people that the country was fully prepared to tackle the challenge. Azad said given the size and population of the country, the number of cases was very few and the disease had not manifested locally. “All the cases have come from outside, mainly the US, therefore there is no need to panic,” the minister said.

The National Disaster Management Authority has been asked to prepare a plan to check spread of the virus. (Inputs: Naveeta Singh, Mumbai)

Mumbai airport gets thermal  sensors to screen flu patients
The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai became the first in the country to get a thermal camera, which will make swine flu detection more effective. The thermal scanner was activated on Friday afternoon. 

On detecting a person with a body temperature above normal (98.6 degree F), the camera sounds an alarm and also captures his or her picture. A second camera is expected to arrive next week.

Meanwhile, health authorities stepped up protective measures in the country even as a six-year-old girl, who arrived from the US to Hyderabad via Mumbai, tested positive for the virus on Friday, taking the total number of cases in India to 16.