Other News
Swine Flu
May 2009
Important and Urgent Release - Swine Flu Advisory Statement
Swine flu is making headlines around the world and justifiably so. It is a major health consideration and something we all need to be aware of. It is also an issue that we, as an industry, have a responsibility to be knowledgeable about. Not only will guests and overseas operators be asking us questions, and probably many of you have already had questions, but our organizations and staff are all exposed to some degree to the risk of contracting the illness from a foreigner visiting this continent.
This latter exposure may be one of your greatest concerns. As of yesterday, the two cases reported in the media as suspected cases have tested negative and so we do not have any confirmed cases of swine flu on the African continent yet. This means that the risk of staff in your organization contracting this illness remains very low. Of course visitors from areas that are known to have swine flu cases will continue to arrive and the best defence you can mount will consist of educating yourself on the facts and minimizing risk exposure.
There are excellent resources on swine flu (H1N1 influenza) available on the internet - good overviews are provided on the Wikipedia, the Centres for Disease Control and the World Health Organisation websites - links provided below. I strongly suggest you read up on the topic and disseminate information to key staff:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ (the Centres for Disease Control Swine Flu page for the most reputable information on the illness)
http://www.who.int/en/ (for the WHO's position on the global status of the illness and various commonly asked questions around it)
Swine flu is spread like other influenza illness. People with the illness cough or sneeze or breath the germs out into the air and onto surfaces. Someone else then either breaths them in or picks them up on fingers by touching surfaces and objects and then transfers them to eyes, nose or mouth by touching these parts with contaminated fingers. It is not spread by eating food (including pork products), nor is it spread through the skin by contact.
It is worth noting that not all travelers
impose the same risk. Those from Mexico and southern USA states (and
to this should be added Canada) are certainly highest risk (590 cases
from Mexico alone); those from Europe are worth noting (there have been
15 cases in England, 40 in Spain and 8 in Germany) and for the others
there have been reported cases in various other countries but many are
isolated incidents and it is difficult to extrapolate real risk from
one, or even a handful of cases. For a useful web resource giving an
update on the numbers of cases go to: http://www.usatoday.com/news/
Measures to protect yourself are:
- "Social distancing". Difficult in hospitality but avoiding large gatherings of people, distancing yourself from coughing and sneezing individuals and trying not to be stuck with symptomatic people in a closed space like a small office or a car, especially with no ventilation, for a prolonged period (more than an hour).
- Avoid touching your face, nose and mouth in a suspected contaminated area.
- Having an alcohol "no wash" hand spray or gel available for staff to use periodically throughout the day or washing hands, especially after using public phones, wiping surfaces, using others' computer keyboards or interacting with other objects that others use and may hold droplets contaminated with viruses.
- Ensuring that people who are obviously ill stay away from work until symptoms subside.
Remember that any risk of exposure at this point is primarily from foreign guests and not from co-workers in the hospitality setting. You don't want to over-react and create a sense of divide, distance and mistrust amongst your own staff as this is certainly inappropriate. However you don't want to be guilty of sticking your head in the sand either and not doing simple and effective measures. Think about who may realistically be exposed - think of housekeepers cleaning guest rooms or those doing transfers in closed (non game viewer) vehicles, or perhaps hosts, who spend one-on-one time with guests talking socially. These individuals are more exposed than maintenance staff who only work with locals for example. You should not need to change your operational policies and you do not need to jeopardise your hospitality service, but individuals more exposed can take definite measures to limit their risk within the scope of normal operations and it would be wise for them to do just that.
Finally, if you have suspicious cases in individuals who were in contact with foreign nationals showing symptoms of illness, then alert us so that we can get you in touch with the right resources to deal with the situation. Because the symptoms of swine flu are exactly the same as any other cold or flu viruses, it is not realistic or possible to investigate anyone with a sniffle or a temperature, therefore only alert us if you know that contact with a sick guest/person from overseas has occurred.
Dr. Simon King
Tourism Risk Managers (TRM)
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