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No flu infections in passengers back from Mexico

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-30 11:47

SHANGHAI -- No flu-like infections were found among passengers and crew members on flight AM098, which was the first direct flight from swine flu-hit Mexico to China's mainland, after the epidemic broke out last week, according to the quarantine staff at an airport in Shanghai Thursday.

The Mexico Airlines flight was ordered to park away from the parking apron, after it landed at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 6 a.m. Thursday.

Chinese medical workers boarded the plane to take the temperature of  every one on board. The 202 passengers were then allowed to get off and enter the airport through a private channel.

No flu symptoms were found, according the medical staff, who explained that anyone whose temperature exceeds 37.5 degree Celsius will be sent to the Shanghai Public Health Center for further examination.

"All of us had our passports and identification cards registered after we entered the airport," said Wang Zhongying, one of the fight passengers.

She said most of the passengers on board were Chinese.

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"Mexico airport also made strict disease control measures. Every one was wearing a mask," said a woman who made a short stay in the swine flu-ravaged country, where 159 people have died of the disease.

She said she did not have contact with flu patients in Mexico.

The Pudong airport quarantine staff disinfected the plane after passengers disembarked.

Shanghai is the only city in China's mainland that has a direct air route to and from Mexico. The Pudong airport has taken strict quarantine measures on all flights from North America Region.

The Shanghai tourist department said on Wednesday that there were 440 Shanghai tourists still in Mexico and America. They have been urged to wear masks and contact Chinese embassies if they develop flu symptoms.

China on Wednesday urged local governments to be on full alert, warning that the country will be more vulnerable to swine flu during the upcoming May holiday travel boom.