Tourists entering India via Nepal border undergo screeing for swine flu

Aligarhwa (Uttar Pradesh), Aug.22 (ANI): Following a growing number of HINI virus affected cases, tourists and other visitors travelling between India and Nepal are being screened at the border for a health check up for symptoms of swine flu which has claimed 45 lives in the India.

A lot of people including domestic and international tourists enter India from Nepal on daily basis to visit Buddhist religious sites, most of them are first time visitors.

Everyday at least 500 people along with tourists are being checked at specially set up camps for swine flu symptoms.

A medical camp is being set up at the SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal) check post in Aligarhwa in Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh. Other camps have been organized in Barahni and Kakrahwa.

Soldiers posted at the border are showing enthusiasm to visit the health check-up camps.

"I came to know that a medical camp is being set up at the border and travellers are being screened for swine flu symptoms. I also came for the check up to ensure about my health condition," Omkar Singh, a Soldier, SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal).

Doctors at the border hospitals are on high alert and taking required precautions to prevent spread of swine flu.

"As our district is near the Nepal border, a lot of foreign tourists come here. We are taking precautions, checking them and we have opened special ward for swine flu patients," said B.R.Ram, Senior Consultant District Hospital Siddharthnagar.

India recorded its first H1N1 case in Hyderabad in May and since then the virus has spread different parts of the country.

The H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, emerged in April in the United States and Mexico, and has spread internationally.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed H1N1 swine flu as 'unstoppable' because many countries are not keeping a track and precise count of the virus cases. By Pawan Kumar (ANI)