Two-day bird-flu exercise in Singapore

Singapore will hold a two-day exercise this week to test the city-state’s readiness for a flu pandemic.

The drill, to be conducted on Friday and Saturday, is based on a scenario in which a human case of bird-flu infection escalates into a pandemic, the Ministry of Health said in a statement posted on its website.

No cases of bird flu have been reported in Singapore, a wealthy south-east Asian city-state of 4.3 million people, but authorities remain on high alert for the H5N1 strain.

The exercise will involve 1,000 staff and volunteers and will be staged across all public hospitals, a number of clinics, a nursing home and two schools.

Healthcare facilities will be tested on their ability to control and trace infections, including procedures for the registering and temperature screening of patients and visitors at hospitals and the isolation of suspected cases and the treatment and transfer of patients, the statement said.

At other key facilities such as Changi Airport and two of the city-state’s land and sea entry points, immigration authorities will be tested on their implementation of infection-control protocols.

Singapore views its 2003 fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome as a preparation for a possible flu pandemic. SARS killed 33 people in Singapore and dealt a severe blow to the nation’s economy.

Health experts fear the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has killed at least 132 people since resurfacing in Asia in 2003, could mutate into a form easily spread among people, possibly sparking a global pandemic.