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MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Philippines has stepped up screening of airport arrivals to prevent the entry of a mysterious respiratory disease that has killed 60 children in Cambodia, the health secretary said Saturday, July 7.
“We are more vigilant in screening passengers at the country’s international airports because of this latest news and there will be no let-up until this has been contained,” Health Secretary Enrique Ona told reporters.
He however said there are no travel restrictions to Cambodia despite the alert.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda also earlier assured the public that the health department is “monitoring” the situation.
“They are also studying what that respiratory disease is,” he said.
Airport on virus watch
At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Philippines’ main gateway, thermal scanners have been reactivated to check the temperature of passengers to determine who could be running a fever, which is one of the symptoms of flu.
NAIA Media Affairs Division chief Consuelo Bungag said the airport’s medical teams are on alert, especially with passengers arriving from Cambodia.
A passenger with fever will be checked by medical doctors on site to determine if their ailment is contagious or not.
Those found to have a contagious disease will be quarantined and brought to either the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang or the San Lazaro General Hospital in Manila for observation.
Mysterious virus
The unidentified disease has killed at least 60 young children in Cambodia in 3 months, the World Health Organization said earlier this week as it raced to identify the cause.
The symptoms include high fever and severe chest disease symptoms with some children showing signs of “neurological involvement,” the WHO said.
This is not the first time that an obscure disease was spotted in Asia. In the past, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, popularly known as SARS, and the H1N1 influenza or swine flu affected the region, also resulting in many deaths. – Rappler.com, with Agence France-Presse
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