High alert - Government of Jamaica says prepared for swine flu threat

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."

On Monday night, the Ministry of Education said it was moving quickly to protect students in the event of an outbreak in Jamaica.

Hope at risk

"The ministry has directed that schools set up quarantine areas," read a release from the ministry last week. "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.

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller on Thursday blasted the Government's $555.7-billion Budget, and was particularly critical of the way the administration plans to raise $18 billion in taxes.

Making her contribution to the 2009-2010 Budget Debate, Simpson Miller said the tax package, which includes an $8.75 per litre increase in the special consumption tax on fuel, threatens to rob "overburdened Jamaicans" of their joy.

"That side (the Government) loves to quote from Barack Obama, but they don't do what Barack Obama says," Simpson Miller said as she deviated from her prepared text to underscore what she termed the unreasonableness of the Government's tax package.