Sydney bird flu suspect may be just another drug mule

Sep 28 2006

According to reports the man who triggered a bird flu scare in Sydney after becoming ill on a flight from Vietnam may have been a drug courier.

Unconfirmed sources suggest his illness was the result of a heroin-filled condom bursting in his stomach.

Although neither the Australian Federal Police (AFP) nor the Ambulance Service of NSW are prepared to comment, the man was apparently treated by medics with Narcan, which is used to treat heroin overdoses.

The 30 year old was placed in quarantine after being taken off a Vietnam Airlines flight from Hanoi via Ho Chi Minh city at 8.30am (AEST) yesterday, on a stretcher.

NSW Health Communicable Diseases director Jeremy McAnulty has said initial tests at St George Hospital showed it was very unlikely he had the deadly avian influenza.

The AFP will say no more than the man was a person of interest to them and that investigations are continuing.

Dr. McAnulty said the man's recent history of being in an area with chickens in Vietnam and having a previous influenza-like illness triggered concern when he arrived in Sydney because the man had become "difficult to rouse" when the flight landed.

Quarantine officers wearing protective clothing had boarded the aircraft, isolated the man and escorted him to a waiting ambulance.

Even if the man had contracted avian flu, the chances of his travelling companions or other passengers being infected are extremely low as almost all cases of human infection have been the result of close contact with sick or dead birds.

The Australian government has developed a detailed plan to combat the deadly flu should it reach Australian shores, with stockpiles of 50 million surgical masks and 40 million syringes, along with mass quantities of anti-virals including Tamiflu, widely regarded as the best drug for combating bird flu.