India prepared to face Swine flu

New Delhi, May 5: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has informed that India is ready to meet any possible swine flu threat.

"From the feedback that we have obtained from all states, the country is better prepared to face an outbreak than it was four days ago. The good news is that we have no positive case as of now in our country," Vineet Chowdhary, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told a news conference here on Monday.

He ruled out any possibility of India sealing its borders and WHO has also concurred with it saying that it will only cause discomfort.

An official Pune based Serum Institute of India has said that even though India has not reported any case, the mass production of the vaccine will take at least 2 to 8 months.

In Meghalaya where the pork consumption is high, veterinary doctors habe taken precautionary steps to pre-empt outbreak. The piggery has been closed for outsiders and in the event of an outbreak, the state would seek assistance from the Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhopal.

Health screening of passengers coming from affected countries is continuing in 21 international airports at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Varanasi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Srinagar, Trichy and Trivandrum.

ANI