The Umrah season is already underway and in a couple of months it will reach its peak with the onset of Ramadan, the month wherein close to three million pilgrims are expected to throng the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madina. With the arrival of these pilgrims from every corner of the world, there is every possibility of the outbreak of diseases in the holy sites and Jeddah, the gateway to Makkah and Madina. As such authorities in the Kingdom have launched comprehensive campaigns to tackle the deadly swine flu. Government sectors involved primarily in the welfare of the pilgrims are leaving no stone unturned to take preventive measures against the deadly flu which has affected several thousands in many parts of the world. International airports in the Kingdom have put in place preventive measures aiming to avoid receiving swine flue cases. As part of the joint steps taken by the General Authority for Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Health, thermal cameras have been installed at all international airports to identify passengers carrying swine flu virus, Abdulhamid Aba Alura, Security Director at King Abdul Aziz International Airport, said. The official said even with the coming in of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in this Umrah season, no case of swine flu has been detected. The World Health Organization has laid down several rules which should be strictly followed by all the countries to prevent the virus and the Kingdom is implementing those rules in right earnest. “We are following the (WHO) latest instructions and have taken strict precautionary measures to avoid receiving passengers from the affected countries,” said Khaled Marghlani, spokesman of the Ministry of Health. If any case is detected, Marghlani said, he will be immediately transferred to a specialist hospital for the required treatment. “We are cooperating with the Health Affairs Management in Jeddah and Makkah region to prepare warning campaigns for the citizens making them know the ways to to avoid such infection,” said Marghlani. Meanwhile, a King Fahd Causeway official recently said that the Ministry of Health is working with Bahraini authorities to prevent a transmission of the swine flu virus between the two countries. The source said that the Causeway Authority had set up a quarantine facility at the crossing point to isolate any persons suspected of carrying the virus. Most persons leaving the Kingdom for the neighboring country were, according to the source, of Bahraini nationality. The head of the Transport Committee at the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce said that truck drivers carrying exported goods had been given strict health guidelines to follow in order to ward off the threat of swine flu.
