Birmingham Airport medics on stand-by as swine flu confirmed
Apr 28 2009 by Nick McCarthy, Birmingham Post
The first two British cases of swine flu were confirmed last night with another seven people showing possible symptoms of the disease.
The two people, who had been on holiday in Mexico, were being treated in isolation at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
A further seven people who had been in contact with them are showing “mild symptoms”, said Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon.
More than 100 people have been killed in Mexico by the disease, which is caused when the H1N1 strain associated with pigs crosses over to the human population.
The UK cases were confirmed hours after all EU countries were summoned to Brussels for urgent talks on the outbreak as officials in Spain also verified Europe’s first case.
In the Midlands doctors and nurses are on standby for holidaymakers who may have deadly swine flu when they arrive back in Birmingham from Mexico today.
Medics at Birmingham International Airport have been briefed ahead of the arrival of a Thomson flight from Cancun. Passengers may be questioned over their health with nursing staff ready to offer help to anyone who has been feeling unwell on the flight.
It will be the first Midland flight to arrive back from the central American country since the rapid outbreak of the deadly disease.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson said Britain was now on “constant alert” and the West Midlands Health Protection Agency (HPA) said airport based health staff had been fully briefed.
Dr Derek Ward, a consultant in communicable disease control with the West Midlands HPA, said: “The response could and may have to change very quickly. This is a very fast moving situation and things could change over the coming day or days.
