- WASHINGTON -- U.S. health
officials have advised airport immigration inspectors to admit foreign
travelers from Asian countries hit hard by a deadly new pneumonia bug ö
even if they show symptoms of infection, U.S. inspectors complain.
-
- "A good 90 percent of all passengers arriving from
Asia are wearing face masks during the flights that arrive here,"
said a Bureau of Customs and Border Protection inspector at Los Angeles
International Airport, which gets heavy Asian traffic. "Yet there
are basically no safeguards set up at the airport to safeguard against
the spread of germs here."
-
- He told WorldNetDaily that LAX, the nation's fourth-busiest
airport, has no quarantine area set up at any of its four international
terminals to detain and isolate passengers with symptoms related to Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, which has now killed more than 100
people and infected some 2,600 in 20 countries. China's southern Guangdong
province, which includes Hong Kong, is believed to be the source of the
virus, which has about an eight-to-10-day incubation period.
-
- "We are not detaining any persons and requiring
them to submit to any test prior to being admitted to the United States,"
said the officer. In a meeting last week, he and other inspectors were
briefed about the fast-spreading virus by Health and Human Services Department
officials assigned to LAX.
-
- Travelers from Asia with signs of the illness, such as
fever or breathing difficulties, are asked by federal health officials
at the airport to fill out a form with their name and the address where
they will be staying, as well as other information, he explains. They are
then simply advised to see a doctor for testing, and allowed to enter the
U.S.
-
- The information is forwarded to the federal Centers for
Disease Control.
-
- "The are doing a numbers game only," the LAX
inspector said.
-
- CDC personnel have inspected certain flights from Asia
after passengers have deplaned, he says.
-
- "But there has been no instance where anyone has
been detained or isolated due to any symptoms," he said.
-
- An HHS spokeswoman here referred questions to the CDC
in Atlanta, which did not immediately return phone calls.
-
- A U.S. immigration officer at O'Hare International Airport
in Chicago, the nation's busiest, says a Chinese passenger recently was
detained there after exhibiting signs of SARS, but was released after health
officials determined that she was not infected with the virus. <http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30903>O'Hare
over the past year has seen a surge in undocumented nationals from mainland
China.
-
- "She apparently just had a cold," the officer
told WorldNetDaily.
-
- He says public health officials have met Asian passengers
at the gates to quiz them about symptoms they may be experiencing, while
handing out information about SARS and local clinics.
-
- Authorities in Thailand, in contrast, have subjected
all foreign travelers, including Americans, to medical examinations upon
entering airports there, while imposing strict quarantines on travelers
diagnosed with SARS.
-
- Airport authorities there and in other Asian countries
have started wearing surgical gloves and masks.
-
- Federal inspectors at O'Hare are wearing neither protective
gear, but LAX inspectors have been advised by federal health officials
to wear gloves while handling passports and other documents.
-
- "We were told to wash our hands frequently and to
wear gloves in the handling of documents," he said.
-
- However, "we are not allowed to wear face masks
during an inspection," based on orders from immigration supervisors,
he added.
-
- The SARS virus is believed to be spread by air, through
coughing and sneezing, as well as by contact.
-
- "We were told under no circumstances would we be
allowed to wear face masks while in uniform," he said. "If someone
coughs or spits up, we were told to call the floor rover or supervisor
and have that person escorted to Public Health."
-
- In lieu of the masks, a few inspectors have purchased
small table fans to direct air away from their booths, he says.
-
- Though still a medical mystery, SARS has a relatively
low death rate of 4 percent. By comparison, at least a quarter of a million
people around the world die from the common flu each year.
-
- <mailto:psperry@worldnetdaily.com>Paul Sperry is
Washington bureau chief for WorldNetDaily.
|
