No travel warning issued on swine flu: Govt

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 04/28/2009 4:03 PM  |  National

Health Minister Siti Fadilla Supari said Tuesday that the government would not issue any travel warning to prevent Indonesian from going to countries where swine flu has been detected.

Siti said the government only remind the people to check their health before going to those countries.

“Those who want to go to Mexico better take care themselves,” she said during a press conference at the Health Ministry building in Jakarta.

The pandemic has killed over 100 people in Mexico and the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 40 cases in the US, six in Canada and one in Spain. Possible cases are being checked as far afield as Israel and New Zealand.

The World Health Organization raised the alert level to Phase 4, meaning there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus causing outbreaks in at least one country. Monday was the first time it was raised above Phase 3.

Putting an alert at Phases 4 or 5 signals that the virus is becoming increasingly adept at spreading among humans. Phase 6 is for a full-blown pandemic, characterized by outbreaks in at least two regions of the world.

Siti said the government has prepare  Oseltamivir, which was already used for bird flu. The minister said the government still have three million doses of  Oseltamivir and would add more if needed.
 

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