Next time you enter Morocco through Casablanca's Mohammed V International airport, expect to be caught on camera. No, its not a talent quest or a new form of drug detection, but rather the latest use of technology to step up the war on Avian influenza.
The View From Fez understands that the system is designed for mass screening of public areas for individuals with elevated body temperatures. As a group of people walk past the camera head a thermal image is displayed. Body temperatures above a predefined value, such as a fever, can be visually identified and then further assessed by medical personnel.
The dynamic real time thermal imaging camera system that is capable of evaluating hundreds of people a minute, so pedestrian flow is not restricted.
Several thermal imaging cameras have been installed at the airport to "detect bird flu among passengers and prevent the disease entry" to Morocco, Health Minister, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah announced."Faced with the geographical spread of the virus, Morocco has taken additional drastic measures," the minister told the French-speaking daily "L'Economiste," underlining that the epidemiological situation in Morocco is "normal both for avifauna and husbandry as well as for humans."
He reassured that the "virus does not transmit, up to now, between humans," noting that Morocco, which has already chosen the vaccine prototype against the virus in case it mutates, "has ordered 1 million doses from Pasteur Institute."
On Tuesday, a meeting gathered the inter-ministry committee together to fight bird flu. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister, Driss Jettou.
In a statement to the press, Biadillah had said that “the check up of poultry and migratory birds raises no concerns,” ensuring that there is a “pre-emption for vaccination and hygiene measures.” Earlier the Minister had said "The situation of bird flue in Morocco is very calm," but the evolution of the disease at the international scene requires reinforcing the surveillance measures of migratory birds.
For his part, the high commissioner for water and forest, Abdelaadim El Hafi, affirmed that “up to now, there is no indication as to the possible presence of bird flu (in Morocco),” as attested by analyses and samplings, he said.
Internationally, the disease has claimed, since it was first documented in 2003, 79 lives around the world, and some 148 cases tested positive to H5N1 virus.
The Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza is convening, as of Tuesday, in a two-day meeting in Beijing to secure funding for avian and pandemic influenza control and preparedness.
Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news
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