IRELAND:AN AIRCRAFT was impounded for a period at Dublin airport yesterday on arrival from France after a number of passengers on board felt ill. Health officials were contacted to check whether they posed a risk of swine flu.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary gave details of the incident yesterday, suggesting too much was being made of the threat of swine flu by politicians who wanted to distract people from the “day-to-day mess they are making of the Irish and British economies.
“We had a ridiculous case today. We have a plane arrived in from Nantes with you know, a 15-year-old got sick on the plane and Dublin airport are impounding the plane and calling the HSE, like you know, this is the arrival of swamp [swine] flu in Ireland. Complete bloody nonsense,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Dublin Airport Authority pointed out that it was a Ryanair pilot who called for assistance because a number of passengers were ill. The HSE was informed and it ordered the impounding of the aircraft until checks were carried out. Health officials inspected the aircraft but it is understood all passengers were soon given clearance to disembark. The passengers are believed to have been suffering from a stomach bug.
Meanwhile, two suspected cases of swine flu are being investigated in the North while 11 others were given the all clear.
Health service personnel dealing with suspect cases are to be given face masks to minimise the risk of infection.
Northern Ireland Health Minister Michael McGimpsey said his department would “maintain the strictest surveillance and monitoring”.
“We have no cases confirmed here, although there are two cases currently under investigation,” he said. “Northern Ireland has robust plans in place for dealing with situations like this. We have worked and are working extremely closely with the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland to ensure we are prepared and to ensure that the public is protected to the maximum level possible.”
In the Republic, suggestions by Pat Wall, professor of public health at UCD, that people were being overly alarmist about swine flu have been dismissed by the chair of the State’s pandemic influenza expert group Prof Bill Hall.
“I would have to disagree with the comments of Prof Wall . . . we really don’t know very much about this disease because of the small numbers of individuals infected outside Mexico. We know it’s a bad disease in Mexico. We don’t know what’s going to happen here. So we really don’t yet fully appreciate or understand the potential severity of the disease. I think with that in mind it’s inappropriate just to assume that this will be a normal influenza,” he said.
“We hope that Prof Wall is correct, that it will be a typical influenza that will be mild and disappear . . . however, we don’t know that yet.”
Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said there is now round-the-clock co-operation by health professionals in dealing with any potential cases even if there is no structured out-of-hours public health service in the State. The HSE is preparing a leaflet for all homes in case of an outbreak.