Cameras scan travellers for Swine Flu

22 May, 2009

The cameras are specifically developed to detect individuals with high body temperatures in only a couple of seconds. They produce infrared images or heat pictures of a person’s face and detect whether the body temperature exceeds a certain value or not. The symptoms of Swine Flu are sore throat, nausea, cough and fever. The cameras were developed based on experience from previous Flu outbreaks such as SARS and Bird Flu and are present in many airports in South East Asia, where the presence and threat of Bird Flu was the highest.

Arne Almerfors, vice president FLIR Thermography, commented:?“An infrared camera enables a quick and accurate identification of individuals that might be infected by the virus.”

He adds: “The aim is to efficiently identify and differentiate individuals in good health from individuals with fever who might be contaminated with the Swine Flu. After that, further medical analyses within the Public Health care will determine whether it is Swine Flu or not.”