T

he Bali Health Agency and all pertinent local health institutions and service providers are ready to cope with a possible outbreak of the H1N1 flu on the island, an agency official said Monday.

"We are ready and in full-alert mode right now," said health agency head I Nyoman Sutedja.

"Health officers at the airport, other entry points and at community health centers across the island have been prepped. The coordination and communication link between officers is good."

Following the World Health Organization's June 11 decision to raise the level of the influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6, the resort island's health authorities have increased the preparedness of local health service providers to cope with the new strain of influenza A, Sutedja added. The WHO cited almost 30,000 confirmed cases of H1N1 in 74 countries in its decision to raise the alert.

"Fortunately we have not had any confirmed cases here in Bali," Sutedja said.

In May, a Dutch woman and a Japanese man were taken to Sanglah General Hospital upon arriving in Bali after exhibiting influenza-like symptoms. The hospital placed them in a special isolation ward, and after several tests declared them free of the virus.

The health agency has assigned an additional 25 officers to Ngurah Rai International Airport, the gateway for 3,000 foreign tourists arriving on the island each day.

The agency had previously set up a field hospital at the airport to deal with possible H1N1-infected tourists.

"Of the 25 officers, 16 are physicians," Sutedja said.

"We have also supplied 3,500 doses of Tamiflu to regencies across the island, and stored up 4,000 doses for reserve."

Since late April, the island's health authority has beefed up measures to prevent, detect and cope with the possible outbreak of the deadly virus. Up to 1,500 blood and nasal liquid samples have been taken from randomly selected pig farms across the island and sent to local and national labs to determine whether the virus had infiltrated the island's swine population.