Airlines alerted following mystery Cambodian disease

An airport nurse uses thermal scanner to scan the body temperature of arriving international passengers as a security precaution of the airport due to an unknown respiratory disease that killed 61 children in Cambodia. RICHARD A. REYES/PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Quarantine and International Health Surveillance has alerted airlines to be on the lookout for passengers on board flights from Cambodia with fever, its chief said on Monday.

The alert was issued, bureau chief Dr. Edgardo Sabitsana said, following Health Secretary Enrique Ona’s statement on a mystery disease that killed 60 children in Cambodia.

In particular, the Bureau of Quarantine spoke with Cebu Pacific, which has three flights to Cambodia every week so that the airline’s management can “advise their crew to be vigilant on board aircraft.”

“Kung may fever ang passenger, i-advance notice ang Quarantine section sa airport para makapagprepare,” Sabitsana said, adding  that  there were already using scanners at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 to check passengers for fever.

“We have state-of-the-art scanners. Dadaan sila, hindi nila alam nakuha na ang temperature nila. Hindi na nila kailangan tumigil para dito. Basta may fever, makukuha yun (ng scanner),” he pointed out.

At first, the bureau chief said they thought the mysterious illness was only found in southern Cambodia but later discovered that there were also cases in the northern part of the country.

The World Health Organization has yet to determine what sort of disease killed some 60 children in three weeks, said Sabitsana.

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