Extra staff and stricter measures to screen passengers for swine flu will be put in place at Bahrain International Airport (BIA) for the upcoming Haj pilgrimage, officials have revealed.

BIA director Mohammed Tamer Al Kaabi said the measures were being implemented in co-operation with the Health Ministry.

Several thousand passengers are expected to travel to and from or transit through Bahrain during the season, running from November 25 to 30.

'We are also planning to instal more thermal cameras to detect people who have fever and could be carrying the swine flu virus, but the focus of our attention is on creating awareness,' said Al Kaabi.

'We are concerned at the emerging scenario and are planning some measures. We will reveal them as we near the pilgrimage dates,” he added.

Al Kaabi said officials were hoping a swine flu vaccine will be available towards the end of September to combat the potentially fatal outbreak, which has killed more than 230 people and infected over 52,100.

It was earlier reported that health officials were preparing to vaccinate thousands of Bahraini pilgrims against swine flu before the annual Haj season begins.

Health Ministry public relations director Adel Ali Abdulla had said officials were concerned the pilgrims could contract the virus in Saudi Arabia, where millions of people from around the world will congregate, and bring it back to Bahrain.

He said the government was still waiting for advice from the World Health organisation (WHO) on what to do about pilgrims from outside the region, who might transit through Bahrain on their way to and from Saudi Arabia.

Specialists at a major healthcare conference in Helsinki, Finland, last April, expressed fears over the highly contagious flu virus being unleashed during the Haj season, the world's largest annual gathering.

They said in the grimmest scenario, the bug would not only find easy pickings among the elderly, the weak and sick in Mecca, but would also hitch a plane ride with pilgrims returning home - spreading the disease further.

An estimated two-and-a-half million worshippers travelled to Islam's holiest site for the Haj last December, including up to 15,000 from Bahrain.

The country's first swine flu case emerged in May after a Bahraini student returning from a graduation ceremony in New York was diagnosed with the condition.

Fourteen others, including 10 students also returning from a trip to the US last month, tested positive and were held in quarantine at Salmaniya Medical Complex before being discharged after treatment. – TradeArabia News Service