Grigor Baghian, chief of the Agriculture Ministry’s Food Safety Inspectorate, told RFE/RL that the Armenian government has banned imports of all kinds of meat products from Mexico, the epicenter of the disease outbreak rapidly spreading around the world. Imports of pork from the United States and others countries affected by the new H1N1 strain of the virus have also been banned, he said. In addition, sanitary services are disinfecting all vehicles entering Armenia, added Baghian.
The World Health Organization says there is no evidence that swine flu has been spread from contact with pigs or from eating pig meat. Rather, the UN health agency now says that transmission of the disease is human-to-human -- either by direct contact or through coughing and sneezing.
The state Hygiene and Anti-Epidemic Inspectorate said its medics were deployed at Yerevan’s Zvartnots international airport and Armenia’s border crossings last Friday to question and screen all individuals arriving in Armenia from the affected countries. According to a senior official at the agency subordinated to the Healthy Ministry, Gayane Sahakian, they have registered no suspected swine virus cases so far.
“We have enough medicines to fight against the diseases if, God forbid, it reaches Armenia,” said Sahakian.
Armenia’s chief sanitary inspector, Ara Asoyan, was confident that these and other precautions have minimized the risk of the potential pandemic virus reaching the country. “Since we face no such danger today, people should calmly go about their day-to-day business,” he told RFE/RL.
Asoyan noted that Armenia was the only country in the region that identified no cases of bird flu, another dangerous virus that killed people around the world in 2006-2007. Still, it did need millions of dollars in external assistance to keep the disease at bay.
Germany -- A young woman wears an face mask helping in the prevention from infection of swine flu as she arrives from Mexico at Rhein Main airport in Frankfurt Main, 28Apr2009
The World Health Organization says there is no evidence that swine flu has been spread from contact with pigs or from eating pig meat. Rather, the UN health agency now says that transmission of the disease is human-to-human -- either by direct contact or through coughing and sneezing.
The state Hygiene and Anti-Epidemic Inspectorate said its medics were deployed at Yerevan’s Zvartnots international airport and Armenia’s border crossings last Friday to question and screen all individuals arriving in Armenia from the affected countries. According to a senior official at the agency subordinated to the Healthy Ministry, Gayane Sahakian, they have registered no suspected swine virus cases so far.
“We have enough medicines to fight against the diseases if, God forbid, it reaches Armenia,” said Sahakian.
Armenia’s chief sanitary inspector, Ara Asoyan, was confident that these and other precautions have minimized the risk of the potential pandemic virus reaching the country. “Since we face no such danger today, people should calmly go about their day-to-day business,” he told RFE/RL.
Asoyan noted that Armenia was the only country in the region that identified no cases of bird flu, another dangerous virus that killed people around the world in 2006-2007. Still, it did need millions of dollars in external assistance to keep the disease at bay.
