H1N1
Sailors at Risk From Swine Flu Too
There is much that is reported in the news about scanning travelers at airports for the H1N1 Swine Flu virus so that the spread of the virus transmitted by persons traveling into India from abroad can be checked.
However, the other major channel of travel and commerce between countries, i.e. sea routes are not similarly monitored so vigilantly.
Now, however some of the focus has shifted to the ports and people getting into the country via shipping routes, with the death of a Merchant Navy officer on board a Greek vessel at the Haldia dock in West Bengal.
Though there is nothing yet to suggest that death of the officer E Nikoloas was caused by Swine flu, and in fact the preliminary findings seem to suggest heart attack, there is a panic with regard to the spread of the virus.
However this incident has brought into focus a very pertinent issue that sailors are not subjected to medical checks, even after the outbreak of swine flu across the country, as reported in this Times article.
Though there is no indication that Nikoloas died from swine flu the death has raised some valid concerns, as one senior officer said, “Though sailors from various countries have a free run of the ports, there are no medical checks carried out. Earlier, whenever a disease assumed epidemic proportions, ships would be asked to declare if any crew member was ill. The ship would then be quarantined. This time round, no such action has been noticed at the ports of Kolkata or Haldia.”
The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), however, said that steps have recently been taken to carry out checks for the Swine flu virus. “Medical officers at Kolkata and Haldia have been asked to take necessary steps to prevent any spread of the virus,” said A K Majumdar, officiating chairman, KoPT.
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