3 passengers isolated, almost 200 quarantined

THREE passengers from a chartered flight directly from the United Kingdom to Brunei Darussalam, late afternoon yesterday, have been isolated after being identified with high risk of infection from Influenza A (H1N1) while almost 200 passengers, including crew members of the same flight, are currently quarantined at an undisclosed location.

Director General of Health Services Dr Hjh Rahmah Hj Mohd Said said that the tests carried out on these three suspects have so far been negative however they are still being held in isolation at the Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah Hospital in Tutong for precautionary purposes.

"At the same time, the contacts of these three passengers, as a precautionary measure, are being quarantined and will be followed up with appropriate health procedures accordingly," said the director general during a press conference held late yesterday evening at the National Disaster Management Centre's new building located on the premises of the Fire and Rescue Department's Headquarters in Berakas.

She said that all three suspects were found to be at risk during screening procedures in the airport especially since they had a history of travelling to affected areas in addition to showing some signs and symptoms of Influenza A (H1N1).

"They were detected both from the thermal scans as well as information retrieved from their health declaration form," she added.

The director general then explained that specimens from the three suspects will also have to be sent to a designated overseas centre to undergo definitive laboratory tests for further verification as it was impossible for the relevant authorities in Brunei to differentiate between the symptoms of seasonal influenza and Influenza A (H1N1) without the aid of definitive laboratory tests.

She added that results of this definitive laboratory tests would only be available in a few days time.

Meanwhile, the other passengers on the same flight will have to remain under quarantine for 10 days for further tests and observations to ensure that they are not infected with the disease.

When asked if any of the passengers were of Bruneian origin, Dr Hjh Rahmah replied that "if you do carry a risk of being infected you will be isolated whether you are Bruneian or otherwise".The Brunei Times