A staff member of the Pohnpei State Port Authority was in attendance and Dr. Boris Pavlin, the World Health Organizatoin medical epidemiologist assigned to FSM, gave a general briefing and recommended some preliminary actions to be taken by the department which included the following:
1) Intensify local and national surveillance systems;
2) Fully implement enhanced surveillance at Pohnpei State Hospital and private clinics;
3) Institute travel alerts at airports; and
4) Notify the public about the issue and protective measures they can take.
The FSM health department also contacted the state departments of health to share with them information on swine influenza.
Public announcement have gone out and will be given to radio stations and TV stations.
The state departments of health in conjunction with the immigration and customs officers at the airports will begin screening arrivals to see if anyone is coming into FSM from any of the affected areas; mainly Mexico, several states in the U.S., Canada and now Spain and New Zealand.
There are no suspected cases of swine influenza in FSM.
The national government has received confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that its allocation of the strategic national stockpile will be sent to Pohnpei right away.
This aid is primarily in the form of doses of Tamiflu, an antiviral drug that has been found to be responsive to fighting the swine influenza.
