Exploring full-on travel ban in outbreak
TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: European Union health ministers are meeting this morning in Luxembourg
for emergency talks on their swine flu response. France wants the E.U. to ban travel to Mexico. Christopher Werth has the story.
Christopher Werth: European transport ministers say they’ll wait for today’s talks to
conclude before deciding whether to impose a ban. Many European countries, including France and Britain, have already
issued advisories against travelling to Mexico.
The question is whether a full-on ban is necessary. Officials at the World Health Organization say travel bans would not be effective in containing the spread of the virus.
Sean Tipton is with the Association of British Travel agents. He says Mexico’s economy is already being slammed by the series of warnings from foreign governments. He says the real worry is if advisories go beyond Mexico.
Sean Tipton: If there were a ban in place for lets say somewhere like Spain or in the USA. Now that would be catastrophic in many ways.
Reports of the first case of a person-to-person transmission of the flu in Europe came from Spain, where 10 cases have been confirmed so far. In the U.S., about 100 cases have now been confirmed.
In London, this is Christopher Werth for Marketplace.
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