Iloilo resident tested negative for H1N1 virus
A resident of Iloilo coming home from the United States was briefly quarantined on Saturday but tested negative for the A(H1N1) infection.
Dr. Ariel Valencia, Officer-In-Charge of the Department of Health in Western Visayas, said the male adult was tagged after a thermal scan at the airport showed he had the symptoms of flu.
Valencia said in a telephone interview that the man was released from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila yesterday after the test turned negative for the virus.
“There is no cause for alarm. We test all those with flu symptoms especially those coming from other countries. These are precautionary measures,” said Valencia.
There is no confirmed case in the Philippines of the dreaded virus, which evolved from swine, bird and human borne viruses, but Health officials have raised alerts and implemented precautionary measures following a warning of the World Health Organization that a pandemic is imminent.
The WHO has reported that 16 countries have officially reported 658 cases of A (H1N1) infections and 17 deaths.
The man whose identity is being withheld to protect his privacy arrived with his family at the Manila international airport on Saturday morning from San Francisco and was to take a connecting trip to Iloilo.
The US is among the countries that have reported confirmed cases of the infection with one death.
Valencia said the man's family was also advised and given instructions to report to health facilities if they exhibited symptoms of the common flu which are similar with A(H1N1) contamination including high fever, body aches accompanied by coughing and sneezing.