Australia puts in place swine flu detention measures

 

 

Australia is testing 91 people for deadly swine flu, and has introduced new powers to isolate and detain suspected sufferers to prevent a major outbreak, officials said Wednesday (April 28).

 

Governor-general Quentin Bryce agreed to sweeping new detention and surveillance powers for health officials following a request from Health Minister Nicola Roxon late Tuesday, as swine flu spread across the world.

 

Roxon said the new measures - ranging from strong steps, such as detaining or isolating for surveillance suspected carriers, to disinfecting aircraft after they arrive from overseas - were so far purely precautionary.

 

"It means that we can act nationally, we can act quickly," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday.

 

Swine flu has been put on the country's list of quarantined diseases, meaning that if suspected sufferers refuse to cooperate with orders to isolate themselves, they can be detained against their will.

 

"(The powers) give the chief medical officer the power to change circumstances particularly at our airports and ports. The most extreme of those would be for example isolating someone, perhaps in their own home."

 

"We want to make sure that all the powers are there, that we are ready to act if this takes a dramatic turn for the worse," she said.

 

Some 91 people displaying flu symptoms were being tested for the potentially deadly virus in Australia, but there are no confirmed cases of swine flu so far, Roxon's office said.

 

"As of now, there are 91 people displaying flu symptoms who are being checked, but this does not mean that they are suspected cases at this point," a spokeswoman for the minister said.

 

Results of the tests were expected within 48 hours. Roxon said it was unlikely that those tested actually have the disease, but that they should be checked because they had been travelling in infected areas or had been on planes with suspected sufferers.

 

Authorities were also trying to track down a further 22 Australians who were on the same flight as a group of three New Zealand students who have tested positive for swine flu, after flying in from Mexico on Saturday.

 

Six nations other than Mexico have declared confirmed cases of swine flu, which is believed to have claimed the lives of more than 150 people in Mexico.