With the current swine-flu outbreak, which has seen hundreds of people infected in Mexico, the United States and other countries, close to becoming a pandemic, the Ministry of Health has urged persons with flu-like symptoms to stay at home and consult a doctor immediately.
At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture is on high alert and has heightened its surveillance of the local swine population, and urged veterinarians, pig farmers and animal health technicians to increase their vigilance and notify the Veterinary Services Division of any unexplained illnesses in swine.
Dr Sheila Campbell-Forrester, chief medical officer, said measures have been implemented to ensure that the country will be able to respond effectively and in a timely manner if there are local cases of the swine influenza.
"We are asking all persons with flu-like symptoms to stay at home. Children with fever should not be sent to school or day-care centres and adults with fever should not go to work until the fever is cleared up," Campbell-Forrester said. "If anyone experiences severe illness resulting from the flu, they are to visit their doctor or the nearest health facility immediately."
Last night, the Ministry of Education said it was moving quickly to protect students in the event of an outbreak in Jamaica.
"The ministry has directed that schools set up quarantine areas," read a release from the ministry last night. "Any student with flu-like symptoms is to be quarantined, his/her parent is to be called, the student is to be removed from school and the matter reported to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health."
Swine influenza is a respiratory illness that is caused by the influenza A virus.
It is transmitted from infected pigs and also by human-to-human contact.
The health ministry said national-level meetings have taken place and all health regions have been briefed. It has also asked ill persons who have travelled to Mexico in the last two weeks to report to the nearest health facility.
Meanwhile, the agriculture ministry has been closely monitoring the outbreak in humans of the swine influenza virus (H1N1).
The ministry said while illnessesand deaths have been reported in humans in Mexico and other countries, there have been no confirmed reports of the infection in pigs.
However, the Veterinary Services Division said it would continue to closely monitor the importation of live swine, semen, pork and pork products and, where necessary, place restrictions on such imports.
The ministry also noted that the country's National Emergency Animal Disease Committee had been put on alert effective immediately and the ministry would also continue to collaborate with pig farmers to develop and implement all relevant biosecurity measures in an effort to safeguard animal and public health.
The agriculture ministry said field and laboratory monitoring had been ongoing across the island for several swine diseases including classical swine fever, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, pseudorabies, myco-plasma, hyopneumonea and swine influenza. However, no cases of these diseases have been detected so far.
According to an Associated Press report, Mexico cancelled school yesterday and warned that the death toll from swine flu believed to have already killed 149 people would keep rising before it could be contained. Health Secretary José Angel Córdova said 20 of the deaths had been confirmed to be from swine flu and the government was awaiting results on the others.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com