FSM INSTITUTUTES NEW AIRPORT SCREENING PROCEDURES DUE TO

UNCLAS KOLONIA 000067 DEPT FOR CA/OCS: KAREN ZARESKI CA/OCS/EAP: DAVID SCHWARTZ EAP/ANP MANILA FOR RMO, ARSO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMED ASEC CASC KFLU TBIO FM SUBJECT: FSM INSTITUTUTES NEW AIRPORT SCREENING PROCEDURES DUE TO H1N1 FEARS REF: KOLONIA 66 ¶1. Post previously reported that the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) announced new screening procedures for arriving air travel passengers (reftel). The new procedures aim to identify persons arriving from areas affected by the H1N1 (swine flu) virus. The first screenings took place on April 30. ¶2. Until further notice, all persons disembarking at a Micronesian airport will be asked if they have visited an affected area within the last seven days. The current list includes the following areas of the United States: -ARIZONA: Phoenix; -CALIFORNIA: Imperial, Marin, Oxnard, Riverside Sacramento and San Diego counties; -INDIANA: South Bend; -KANSAS: Dickinson County; -MASSACHUSETTS: Lowell; -MICHIGAN: Livingstone County; -NEVADA: Washoe County; -NEW YORK: New York City; -OHIO: Loraine County; -TEXAS: Cameron, Dallas, Guadalupe, and Starr counties, and the cities of Houston and Corpus Christi. ¶3. Presumably, the list of affected areas may change. The FSM government offered no information on its methodology for compiling the list. ¶4. If a person has visited one of these affected areas within the last week, the Immigration Officer will refer the traveler to FSM Department of Health and Social Affairs (DHSA) personnel set up in a separate room at the airport. These personnel will check to see if a person has a fever, a cough, and/or a sore throat. If these symptoms are present the traveler will be taken to the hospital for further tests. The traveler will be given Tamiflu and placed in an isolated hospital room with other symptomatic patients. ¶5. If a traveler lacks symptoms but has visited an affected area, he/she will be given a surgical mask and a brochure with guidance on "self-quarantine". The DHSA requests each such passenger to stay at home without venturing outside and notify DHSA immediately should symptoms develop. If no symptoms occur after seven days then the person can return to work or go out in public. ¶6. As of May 1, FSM Immigration Officers have yet to identify any passengers targeted by the new rules. However, it is still only the second day of operations and such passengers will probably be uncovered eventually. Complaints and disruptions would appear to be inevitable, but a fearful public may accept the new procedures with a minimum of fuss. ¶7. Other countries designated as having "affected" areas include Austria, Canada, Germany, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom. DOUGLASSWD