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Dubai: Air passengers suspected of carrying the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu might have to undergo blood tests before being allowed entry into the Gulf emirate of Dubai, a newspaper reported today.
Blood samples could be taken as part of a medical exam carried out on travellers with higher than normal body temperatures upon arriving at Dubai airport, health officials told the English-language 7Days. The officials did not state when the tests would start but told the paper they already have the necessary equipment and are waiting for the go-ahead from higher authorities.
Under the plan, all 80,000 passengers arriving daily at Dubai airport would pass through temperature scanners. Anyone with a body temperature more than one degree above the normal 37 degrees Celsius would undergo the medical exam, health officials said.
The H5N1 strain, the most aggressive form, has killed more than 160 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation, and seen millions of birds destroyed. Dubai is one of seven members of the United Arab Emirates, and it was not immediately clear if other emirates that have international airports would introduce similar tests.
H5N1 is an avian influenza subtype with pandemic potential, since it might ultimately adapt into a strain that is contagious among humans. A team of experts from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) arrived earlier this week in the neighbouring Gulf state of Kuwait, where 52 birds have been found infected with the virus.
Blood samples could be taken as part of a medical exam carried out on travellers with higher than normal body temperatures upon arriving at Dubai airport, health officials told the English-language 7Days. The officials did not state when the tests would start but told the paper they already have the necessary equipment and are waiting for the go-ahead from higher authorities.
Under the plan, all 80,000 passengers arriving daily at Dubai airport would pass through temperature scanners. Anyone with a body temperature more than one degree above the normal 37 degrees Celsius would undergo the medical exam, health officials said.
The H5N1 strain, the most aggressive form, has killed more than 160 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation, and seen millions of birds destroyed. Dubai is one of seven members of the United Arab Emirates, and it was not immediately clear if other emirates that have international airports would introduce similar tests.
H5N1 is an avian influenza subtype with pandemic potential, since it might ultimately adapt into a strain that is contagious among humans. A team of experts from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) arrived earlier this week in the neighbouring Gulf state of Kuwait, where 52 birds have been found infected with the virus.
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