"LAX Officials Devise Plans To Prevent Spread Of Bird Flu"

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

LA airport officials race to develop bird flu quarantine plan
The Associated Press


LOS ANGELES - Officials at Los Angeles International Airport are hustling to
develop plans to prevent the spread of bird flu, which could entail
quarantining up to 1,600 passengers for a week or more on the airfield.

The airport is the nation's top gateway for Asian travelers, serving 26
daily flights carrying up to 10,000 passengers. It could be a hot spot if
the bird flu mutated into a form that could pass between humans.

"This is a logistics nightmare," said Michael DiGirolamo, a deputy executive
director for the city's airport agency, who briefed the Board of Airport
Commissioners on Monday.

The current strain of bird flu, which is spread by migrating waterfowl,
appeared in Southeast Asia two years ago and was recently found in birds in
Turkey and Romania. It has killed about 60 people who have had direct
contact with infected birds.

Among the challenges LAX faces are how to shelter and feed quarantined
passengers, whether to use force to keep them in place, how many toilets are
needed and who would pay for the operation.

"Let's say we go with inflatable buildings," said Paul Haney, an airport
spokesman. "You can't just stick them on the ground. There's got to be a
foundation. You have to have electrical out there. You have to get water out
there."

Pilots are supposed to notify the Centers for Disease Control if they
suspect an infected traveler is aboard, and health officials are supposed to
board the plane once it lands.

The ill passenger would be taken to a hospital while the CDC - which has
doubled its LAX staff to eight people - would decide whether to quarantine
the rest of the travelers.

People seated closest to the infected passenger would get antibiotics and
the remainder would be monitored for symptoms.

The airport agency would feed and house the travelers and U.S. Customs and
Border Protection officials would enforce the quarantine.

Airport officials expect to complete the plan within the month.

"It could happen in six months, or three years," DiGirolamo told
commissioners. "This is going to be a major effort on our part, but we will
be prepared to help the CDC."

LAX developed but never had to activate extensive plans to deal with the
severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, outbreak in 2003.

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