ILOILO – Wary of the possible entry of a mystery virus from China causing a respiratory illness with pneumonia-like symptoms, the Department of Health (DOH) has ordered the tight screening of travelers entering through Western Visayas’ international airports.
The region’s international airports are all in Panay Island – the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo; the Kalibo International Airport and Boracay Airport both in Aklan.
The Bureau of Quarantine has personnel in the airports and even seaports, said Dr. Mary Jane Juanico, head of DOH Region 6’s infectious disease section.
“They are already doing control measures. They are on heightened alert checking our travelers,” she said.
DOH Region 6’s other task, said Juanico, is to strengthen the public awareness campaign on this illness – an unidentified form of viral pneumonia – that has so far downed at least 50 people in China.
“We still do not know how this can be transmitted, and even the possible host,” she said.
What is so far clear is that people with this illness experience symptoms like high fever and shortness of breath. In some cases there’s cough, runny nose, body pain, and headache.
It is important for people to maintain a healthy lifestyle, practice proper hygiene and keep the environment clean, said Juanico.
In a statement, DOH secretary Francisco Duque III urged travelers – especially those from China – experiencing flu-like symptoms to get screened immediately.
He also stressed the importance of frequent hand-washing and the wearing of masks in crowded places, among others.
The Philippines is deemed vulnerable to the spread of the mystery virus because it has been receiving heavy Chinese labor traffic since an online gambling boom in 2018.
“Observe cough etiquette to prevent the transmission of respiratory infections,” Duque added.
For his part, DOH undersecretary Eric Domingo said, “We’re really just being very, very careful right now in the Philippines. That’s why we put our Bureau of Quarantine on alert. All of our ports of entry have our quarantine officers.”
While the mystery illness is “very similar to any kind of flu”, Domingo said “this one there is clustering” in China’s Wuhan city in the central Hubei province. All the people who had it, when they were tested, did not test positive for any regular kind of flu virus. So this is something new.”
Authorities in China have ruled out SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome that killed 700 people worldwide in 2002 and 2003.
The infection in China broke out between Dec. 12 and 29, 2019.
Domingo clarified that flu shots could only help prevent infection and severe outcomes caused by influenza viruses, and not the mysterious new illness. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
