The Austrian Airlines wishes to reassure potential guests that the possibility of infection by travelling to Austria is no greater than by staying at home.
Professor Hubert Hrabcik, Director General for Public Health at Austria's Federal Ministry for Health, recalls that "the Austrian authorities responded swiftly to contain possible risk. To date only six cases of H1N1 in Austria have been confirmed, all but one of which was introduced from abroad. The infected persons have completely recovered".
Professor Hrabcik explains, "the Austrian government and the country's public health agencies have comprehensive programs in place to monitor the situation and protect residents and visitors from possible infection. Travelers arriving from affected areas are thoroughly screened at airports".
Risk of infection in Austria is very unlikely", Dr. Hrabcik sums up, assuring potential visitors, "in the event that a guest does fall ill, he or she can rest assured that the Austrian health system will provide proper medical treatment, by which the influenza can be easily cured within a few days. Austria's health system is among the world's best with a network of state-of-the-art hospitals and highly qualified physicians".The World Health Organization does not recommend restricting travel in response to the influenza, declaring that "limiting travel and imposing travel restrictions would have very little effect on stopping the virus from spreading, but would be highly disruptive to the global community".
The latest information regarding the Influenza A (H1N1) virus is available at www.ecdc.europa.eu. http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/
Latest international numbers from the World Health Organisation
