Hampshire ready for swine flu

A special meeting was called at police headquarters in Winchester to review whether Hampshire is ready to cope with a potential influenza outbreak.

The Daily Echo understands there are currently no suspected swine flu cases in Hampshire.

However, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) yesterday refused to confirm or deny this.

The HPA also refused to confirm that millions of doses of the anti-viral Tamiflu – which has shown to be effective against the H1N1 virus – are being stockpiled on the Hampshire border at the HPA’s Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response.

The top-secret laboratory, one of the most sensitive Government facilities in the country, is located at Porton Down, near Salisbury in Wiltshire.

It comes as the death toll in Mexico reached at least 150 and as a couple in Scotland have been confirmed as the UK's first cases of swine flu, after visiting Cancun, Mexico, for their honeymoon.

As revealed by the Daily Echo earlier this month, a report by the county’s emergency planners warned that up to 22,500 – 2.5 per cent of the population – could die if a pandemic strikes Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Hampshire County Council emergency planning officer Ian Hoult said the county was well prepared for a pandemic and that for the past two-and-half years an outbreak had been the biggest risk facing Britain.

“An awful lot of work has been done to prepare for this so we are confident that we are ready for an outbreak,” he said.

“The key agencies met yesterday to share information and get an update on where we are at the moment. We are now on a watching brief and waiting for World Health Organisation levels to change.”

Meanwhile, a Southampton woman was among Britons arriving back from Mexico at Gatwick Airport yesterday who were questioned by a doctor about possible flu symptoms. Elizabeth Heneghan, 28, arrived on the Thomson Airways 358 flight from Cancun following a friend’s wedding at the popular Mexican beach resort.

She said: “I saw three people at the airport in Cancun wearing masks. When we landed here, we weren’t allowed to come off the plane until the doctor had been on and spoken to everyone to check whether they had any flu-like symptoms. A few people came forward but it seems to be fine.

“We saw it on the news out there, but the outbreak was in Mexico City.”

A Southampton Airport spokesman said it was business as usual at the moment, but they were reviewing their contingency plans.

A Health Protection Agency South East spokesman stressed it was currently not a pandemic situation, but refused to confirm if there was any suspected cases in Hampshire.

A detailed pandemic response plan – published this month by the county’s emergency services, hospitals and local authorities – warned that between 25 and 50 per cent of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight’s 1.8 million population could fall ill.

If the threat rises, the team in charge of coordinating a response will operate from Hampshire police’s support and training headquarters at Netley.

Chaired by the police, the group will have executive power to manage issues ranging from excess bodies to humanitarian assistance and monitoring community tension.

People are being advised to cover their nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, dispose of dirty tissues promptly and carefully wash their hands frequently with soap and water and clean surfaces which are regularly touched.

View Swine Flu in a larger map Number cases around the globe as of 4.30pm on Tuesday April 28.