Remote temperature-measuring machines using infrared and specialized thermometers are being installed at Tan Son Nhat Airport, ready to operate around the clock.

Those having a temperature of over 38 degrees Celsius would be taken to isolation rooms to test for bird flu.

The task will be carried out jointly by the International Quarantine Center and airport authorities.

The Health Ministry has instructed 14 hospitals in major cities to keep continuous watch to tackle probable outbreaks.

The hospitals and preventive health care centers have been told to ensure the operation of disease surveillance systems around the clock and sufficient supply of facilities for treating bird flu patients.

The government recently instructed state agencies and local administrations to intensify the fight against bird flu, and temporarily ban import of live poultry and poultry products from countries hit by the disease.

Bird flu has killed at least 141 people in 10 countries since December 2003.

Vietnam has registered 42 fatalities, second only to Indonesia where 47 have been killed. No new human cases have been reported since mid-November 2005

Source: Agriculture