Department of Disease Control (DDC) has tightened up preventive health screening of arriving passengers from all South American countries and territories at major international airports to prevent the spread of Hantavirus.
The department’s director general, Dr Montien Kanasawadse, said today that the screening is intended to reassure the public that the government has taken necessary precautionary steps, even though not a single Hantavirus case has been diagnosed in the country.
The measure is also intended to promote safe tourism, he said.
Dr Montien inspected a health screening checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok today, while his deputy, Dr Direk Khampaen, inspected the checkpoint in Don Mueang airport.
Before going through the normal immigration procedure, passengers from South America are required to report to health officials to provide information about their state of health.
Any of these passengers who has a body temperature exceeding 38oC and has developed a headache, muscle pains or fatigue with associated stomachache, dizziness, vomiting or breathing difficulty will be separated and sent to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute for further examination and quarantine.
Since May 9, 470 passengers arriving from Latin America have been screened for and cleared of Hantavirus infection.
A cluster of Hantavirus (Andes strain) infections was reported on May 2 on board the MV Hondius cruise ship, which sailed from Argentina to the Canary Islands.
Eight confirmed cases have been reported, three of whom have died.
