The Brunei airport authorities had placed nearly 200 tourists under quarantine immediately after their arrival two days ago, over fears they could have infected with swine flu, 'Star' online newspaper today said.
The tourists who flew in from Britain were taken to Tutong Hospital to be placed under quarantine for 10 days after three of them were found to have had very high temperatures when they passed through the thermal scanner at the Brunei airport, the paper said.
Brunei director-general of Health Services Rahmah Md Said told the paper that the quarantine was a precautionary measure. "All of those on board had travelled to countries that are infected by the H1N1 virus, so they were quarantined as a precaution.
The signs of H1N1 are similar to other flu infections, so we have to take extra precautions," she said, adding that only laboratory tests would confirm if the virus was H1N1.
The country's Health Ministry has deployed teams of health officials to all border entry and exit points in the sultanate, including the checkpoints bordering Malaysia's Sarawak.