'Majority' of air passengers traced in swine flu probe

Published on Monday 4 May 2009 12:23

HEALTH officials said today they had traced the "vast majority" of air passengers who were in close contact with a man infected with the swine flu virus.

People who travelled on Flybe flight BE7096 from Birmingham to Glasgow on April 30 are being asked to get in touch with the NHS so they can be risk assessed.

The appeal by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) came after an Ayrshire man became Scotland's fourth confirmed case of swine flu.

He is a travel-related case, having flown back from the USA to Birmingham last Monday.

HPS said the other 52 passengers and four crew on board the plane may be at "low risk" of infection with the H1N1 virus.

An HPS spokeswoman said today: "We have done our own risk assessment and have been in touch with the vast majority of close contacts on the aircraft.

"We would ask that other passengers come forward and contact NHS 24 so they can be risk assessed as a precaution."

She added that passengers currently in England or Wales should contact NHS Direct.

The latest case is not connected to the three Scottish cases which have previously been confirmed.

All close contacts of newlyweds Iain and Dawn Askham, Britain's first confirmed cases of swine flu, have now been traced.

There are currently 16 possible swine flu cases under investigation in Scotland.

Four are in Grampian, four in Fife and three in Lothian.

Forth Valley has two cases and there is one case each in Ayrshire and Arran, Lanarkshire and Tayside.