Two persons traveling from China have been quarantined by the Department of Public Health after fitting the profile of those coming from areas infected with the deadly flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
According to Dr. Baldwin Carey, Director of Public Health, these persons will be quarantined for the ten- day incubation period, and if they do not show symptoms of SARS, the quarantine will be lifted.
Some 100,000 persons have been screened at the Nassau International Airport since the implementation of an intensive surveillance programme a week ago he explained.
Passengers are required to complete the form in addition to the standard immigration forms.
"This of course is done with the full support of the immigration department. What we are doing is pre-immigration screening, which means that any person who was to fall off our scale would not then go through immigration, and would not be admitted in the country. Fortunately, so far we have not had to block any admissions to the country," he said.
He said to date, there are no reported cases of the disease in The Bahamas, although some 5,000 cases have been reported world wide.
Dr. Carey said the Department will have to rely on the questionnaire to determine how many flights come in from China and Hong Kong as they have connecting flights through Florida.
The disease was on the rise in China, the world's most populous country, with 139 SARS deaths and more than 3,000 cases the World Health Organization reported on Monday.
With eight new fatalities in China, five in Hong Kong and one in Singapore reported Monday, the worldwide death toll for severe acute respiratory syndrome numbers about 333, mostly in China and Hong Kong. SARS, which started in China's Guangdong province late last year, has been spread by travelers to more than 20 countries. More than 5,000 people have been infected.
The report continued that outbreaks of SARS have peaked in Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam, but not in China. Vietnam was the first country to contain the disease and said there was still time to keep it from spreading much further.
Continuing the report said that Asian governments, kept up the fight with quarantines and travel restrictions. In particular, Taiwan on Monday began enforcing a 10-day quarantine for visitors arriving from areas hit hard by SARS, prompting airlines to cancel some flights there, while Malaysia sealed off a hospital in Kuching they fear may be the site of an outbreak.
Not failing to take the necessary precautionary measures, Dr. Carey said "anybody coming out of Hong Kong, Vietnam and China will go into quarantine because they would have lived in places where there is something called local transmission. This means, it is being spread beyond travelers but it being transmitted in the country from person to person. And those are the ones who have had travel restrictions."
There are three questions on the questionnaire which checks to see where persons have traveled.
The screening programme at NIA he said, "is working good." Adding that immigration officers have been trained and another health desk added to the regular one to accommodate additional public nursing and medical staff.
They provide travelers with the questionnaire, and to review and further advise persons who come in he said.
"The health office at the airport is fully equipped with health officers. We have an isolation room if necessary. The Airport Authority has kindly allowed us to use what was previously the transit lounge. There is a fully equipped team of nurses who are public health nurses, trained in surveillance," Dr. Carey said. Adding that the nurses work on shifts from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and sometimes until midnight or 1:00 a.m. to accommodate late flights.
"With all of the new viruses, one has to be ever vigilant, which we are. For approximately two weeks, we have increased the staffing at the airport. One case of SARS in our community would be a disaster, especially for the tourism industry," he said.
He said that although the neighbouring United States have reported cases of the virus, there have been no deaths, and no reports of local transmission in that country.
The Department, he said, is particularly concerned with flights coming in from Canada, which has the most reported SARS cases in this hemisphere.
There are four regular flights that come in from Canada weekly, carrying some 150 persons per flight Dr. Carey said. Noting that this week, however, an additional flight is coming in because of returning students.
For Canadian flights which arrive on Thursdays and Sundays, surveillance is beefed up Dr. Carey said.
"Obviously we could not quarantine 600 people per week. For Canadian visitors we have an additional question which asks if they have had contact with SARS or if they in fact have symptoms. If they have lived in only Metropolitan Toronto, if there are no symptoms, those persons are given an information sheet which basically advises them what to expect if symptoms arise and make the necessary contact," he said.
"Toronto has been very good at restricting the spread of this disease. They do not want to get in a situation where they will be blamed by any other country. So they are very tight. They have screenings at entry and exit. In fact Health Canada has a strong presence in the airport, with health personnel who really visibly check persons who come off, and anybody who might appear to have flu like symptoms," Dr. Carey said.
According to a report by Health Canada, as of April 27, 2003, it received reports of 343 probable or suspect cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Canada. There have been 20 deaths in Canada. To date, transmission has been limited to specific transmission settings such as households, hospitals and specific community settings the report stated.
The Guardian was also told that a Bahamian was quarantined for the potential exposure to SARS over the weekend, but Dr. Carey quashed that claim.
"I am not aware of that. If my staff had to quarantine somebody, they would let me know. Up until yesterday evening when I was at the airport, we did not have to quarantine anybody," he said.
The Bahamas, he said, is prepared to deal with the situation should a SARS case present itself.
The Public Hospitals Authority he said has prepared an area in the Princess Margaret Hospital as an isolation room.
"Remember, however, that most persons who may even develop SARS will not require that level of hospitalization. Isolation and quarantine at home is really the main line of management at this time. But we are ready and equipped to deal with it in hospital if necessary," Dr. Carey said.
By Vanessa C. Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
