Hawaii pilots new flu-check on arrival system

The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) has announced the successful pilot of a flu testing system at Honolulu Airport.

Passengers traveling with Hawaiian Airlines were screened for the virus on arrival at the airport.

Travelers filled in health questionnaires as part of the DOH's plan to prepare for a health screening system which may be imposed in case of a flu pandemic.

Sarah Park, MD, Deputy Chief of the DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division, commented: "The pilot went extremely well.

"I think everyone was extremely happy about how it went. It was a good demonstration of a strong collaborative process. Basically, 149 passengers were screened in about 10.5 minutes."

Hawaii is the first U.S. state to introduce voluntary screening for flu-like illnesses and follows an earlier testing program in November 2005.

© Adfero Ltd

Comments

[Phil Olsen]

This announcement fails to describe the flu screening procedure in any detail, and hence has lost the opportunity to solicit or receive useful comments from interested citizen and pilots like me. What I wish to know is how the screening is performed, how samples (if any) are taken, and who does the screening, i.e., airline personnel or DOH personnel. Other questions come to mind, like what procedures are enforcable if flu cases are detected?