Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Cambodia quarantines Japanese couple suspected of having swine flu

Earth Times

Posted : Mon, 25 May 2009
Author : DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian health authorities said Monday they were waiting on test results for a Japanese couple who showed symptoms of swine flu after travelling by air from Vietnam to the northern town of Siem Reap. Bun Artha, director of civil aviation at Siem Reap International Airport, said the couple, a 24-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, was taken to hospital after thermal imaging equipment detected both had high temperatures as they exited a flight from Ho Chi Minh City.

"They arrived in Siem Reap on Sunday evening after spending four days in Vietnam and both were taken immediately to Siem Reap hospital," he said.

Em Bun, director of Siem Reap hospital, said the couple was placed in voluntary quarantine and doctors were waiting on test results to return from a pathology lab in the capital Phnom Penh.

"The couple reported that they had suffered food poisoning in Vietnam and had recovered from ordinary flu just before they left Japan," he said. "Phnom Penh is several hundred kilometers away, so it will take some time for the results to be confirmed and for us to know whether they have the H1N1 virus."

Health authorities on Sunday confirmed there were no cases of swine flu in Cambodia after test results came back negative for three US citizens exposed to the potentially deadly virus during a flight from the US to South Korea.

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