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HONG KONG: Asia is better equipped to deal with an outbreak of swine flu because of its experience with deadly SARS and bird flu, experts say, with Hong Kong providing the gold standard in taking on the virus.
Authorities across the region have moved quickly to try to prevent the spread of the disease, which is suspected of killing more than 100 people in Mexico and may have spread to Europe, the Middle East and New Zealand.
Airport checks across the region have been stepped up, China has banned pork imports, and medical facilities have been put on high alert for any patients showing flu-like symptoms.
Many of the measures being activated were set up during the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, which killed some 800 people, mainly in Hong Kong and China.
The epidemic gave Asia "a badly needed lesson for surveillance and the right infection control mechanisms," Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the WHO's Western Pacific office in Manila, told AFP.
"Asia is better prepared and in a better position than others (as a result)," he said.
In addition, the ongoing battle with bird flu, which has killed some 250 people worldwide, has also ensured Asia remains vigilant against infectious diseases.
"ASEAN member states are better prepared now following the experience from recent SARS and avian influenza outbreaks," the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc said in a statement.
"ASEAN has the existing mechanisms and networks for strengthening preparedness and response to a possible pandemic."
Hong Kong, home to both the world's first reported major outbreak of bird flu among humans in 1997 and a major centre of the SARS outbreak, has established international standards in terms of biosecurity.
Three people have already been admitted to hospital here with flu symptoms with one woman, who recently returned from San Francisco, still being tested for swine flu.
Every passenger arriving by plane or ferry into Hong Kong now passes through an infrared temperature check to test for signs of fever.
The city, whose population is around seven million, has also stockpiled around 20 million doses of Tamiflu, an anti-flu medicine.
X-ray machines and scanners, and often sniffer dogs, are used on the border-crossing with mainland China to try to catch illegally smuggled poultry.
The city has banned backyard poultry farms and last year announced a US$120 million plan to phase out the sale of live chickens in markets, a controversial move in a city that highly prizes freshness in food.
Hong Kong residents have grown accustomed to wearing face-masks to protect themselves against SARS and other viruses, while many companies have contingency plans in place to allow staff to work at home in case of outbreaks.
Hong Kong's universities have also become leading global research centres in infectious diseases.
Paul Chan, a microbiologist at Chinese University of Hong Kong, said he believed the city's systems provided an example for others.
"Hong Kong has a very sophisticated system in identifying and isolating infected cases," he told AFP.
"From the experience with SARS and bird flu, our medical staff have grown highly alert to infected patients and are accustomed to procedures in preventing the patients from infecting others."
In Singapore, Leo Yee Sin, clinical department head of infectious diseases at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, said the SARS experience meant the city-state could now react more quickly.
"One of the key things we learned from SARS is that we need to be prepared, we need to be ready and we need to have ongoing good surveillance systems," she said.
Vietnam has reintroduced the monitoring the temperatures of people arriving from overseas at some major entry points since the outbreak in Mexico.
"We have got used to the situation, as we had a chance to be on very high alert since the SARS epidemic," said Le Truong Giang, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City department of health.
"We will react very quickly in any situation," he said.
Despite the improvements, Cordingley warned against complacency: "Every country in the world is at risk."
Other experts warned that biosecurity blindspots remained in the region.
In Indonesia, Udayana University virologist Ngurah Mahardika said the country needed to increase its ability to deal with bird flu.
"In my view a lot has to be done to improve preparedness. I'm not sure in any case in Indonesia the system is running very well," he said.
And despite its tough measures, Hong Kong discovered the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in a poultry farm for the first time in six years last December, a reminder of the lingering threat.
- AFP/ir
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