Kazakhstan increases epidemiological control at airports

Airline Industry Information, June 21, 2005

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Kazakhstan has increased epidemiological controls on its border with China and at airports due to concern over the possible spread of bird flu, Kazakhstan's first deputy health minister said on Monday (20 June).

The airports in the Kazakh capital, Astana, and in Almaty, which serve flights from China, were equipped with monitors to detect high temperatures among travellers and medical personnel with airlines and the rail network were being trained to identify bird flu victims, the deputy minister said.

The latest bird flu outbreak began in late 2004 and has killed 38 people in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and four in Cambodia. So far there have been no human victims in China, but the disease has killed more than 1,000 migratory wild birds in the west of the country, reported The Associated Press.

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