Hajj pilgrims unconcerned about swine flu threat

A decrease in the turnout had been anticipated sparked by the global pandemic, but pilgrims have poured from the four corners of the world into Saudi Arabia in preparation for this year's Hajj, which will begin on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

According to official sources, around 500,000 pilgrims offered Friday prayers in Medina, the second holiest city in Islam.

Nevertheless, fears of disease were well founded as already four have fallen prey to the lethal virus - the first among pilgrims. The health ministry stated the deaths were due to underlying health issues and the failure of the victims to take adequate precautions and get vaccinated before embarking on the pilgrimage.

Fortunately the number of infections is less than had been feared by Saudi authorities. Only 20 pilgrims had been detected with the virus. Of these, 12 have been treated and discharged, while four remain critical in hospital.

Pilgrims unfazed by the threat of H1N1
Although the doctors monitoring airport arrivals perceive fewer children and elderly this year the drop in the visitors is not sharp.

Pilgrims are not worried and confident that the threat from the virus is low. In spite of awareness campaigns about the swine flu, not many pilgrims are supporting surgical masks.

Ibrahim Qanan, a Palestinian pilgrim stated, "People are not talking about the H1N1 flu. They reserve their time for their devotions, and talk a lot about football.”

Umm Said, a woman from Mauritania declared, "The pilgrims take care of themselves. We don't need all these facilities. More than a million of us pray at the same time in the heart of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and there is no sign of the disease.”

Preventive measures adopted
Since the outbreak acquired a pandemic level earlier this year, Riyadh had urged governments around the world to restrict the pilgrimage to healthy adults between 18 and 65.

It had also recommended those with underlying health conditions and pregnant women to refrain from undertaking the pilgrimage because of concerns about contagious disease.

In an effort to deal with any medical emergency the authorities have spent billions of dollars and have deployed additional health workers, hospital beds and stocked 1.5 million units of anti-viral Tamiflu.

The government has also deployed mobile units that can immediately alert a central monitoring center about the locations of infections.

"We have six health clinics in the Grand Mosque itself, working 24 hours," Dr Abdullah Al-Rabeeah said.

In addition, the Jeddah airport's massive Hajj terminal has a small thermal camera scanning each person for a high body temperature. "It rings if the temperature is over 38 degrees (Celsius).It is so sensitive, if you light up a cigarette way over there, it will sound," said Al-Rabeeah.