Nueva Ecija holds Swine flu summit

Provincial and regional health veterinary authorities, the police and poultry stakeholders drew up plans and other contingencies designed to check the entry of the dreaded Influenza H1N1 flu virus here the other day. The influenza virus summit, called by Gov. Aurelio Matias Umali, came at the heels of the H1N1 flu threatening to become pandemic as it swept from Mexico through the United States, Egypt, Germany, Canada and now in Hongkong and Japan. To date, about 2,300 people in 24 countries had reportedly been inflicted. There are 48 dead and 1,578 confirmed cases of A (H1N1) in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak. Umali said that the immediate detection of any swine flu cases is the key to effectively checking the spread of the dreaded swine virus, which if not immediately treated could cause our economic downturn. Lectures on preventive and regulatory medicines were made by Provincial Health Officer Dr. Benjamin V. Lopez; Dr. Eduardo L. Lapuz, OIC of the Regulatory Division, Department of Agriculture, Regional Field Unit 3, San Fernando, Pampanga; Dr. Rio Magpantay, Center for Health Development, Region 3, San Fernando, Pampanga. Acting Provincial Veterinarian Willhelmina F. Morton presented the group’s action plan which consisted of setting up of quarantining checkpoints, strict monitoring and reporting of any suspected cases of swine flu virus and the isolation of positively identified affected hog farms. She emphasized the strict observance of hog farm management employing the use of foot chemicals at the pens’ entrances to avoid disease infestation of the hog farms’ denizens. For his part, Lopez said the utilization of simple personal health rules such as avoiding sneezing in public and constant washing of hands could avoid the spread of any influenza virus. In the same manner, he said the observance of the simple health rules for man would also apply to animals especially in hog farms, noting that the simple cold is one deadly virus that could spread like wildfire especially during the rainy season. In the same forum, Lopez said the success of any operations in the event of any calamity in swine flu would depend largely to the availability of local governments to secure the much-needed vaccines to combat the swine flu. He advised everyone to practice constant hand-washing to keep germs off and observe “cough ethics” by using tissue paper which should be disposed off right away. Avoid hand-clasping, too, he cautioned, and “beso-beso” should be held taboo for the moment in light of the infestation of the swine flu raging to become pandemic in proportion.
By:MAGTANGGOL C. VILAR
Photo: Quarantine officers enter a plane just arrived from the United States to check passengers at Narita International Airport on May 9, 2009. A Japanese student who has not been abroad recently has tested positive for swine flu in an initial examination, the first suspected domestic infection of the virus, the government said Saturday. (AFP/File/Toshifumi Kitamura)