New health screening for flu symptoms at Mexico airports

Mexico's Ministry of Communications and Transportation has issued a new health screening procedure for international travelers departing from the Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta airports.

Passengers' temperatures will be taken, their general physical well-being will be evaluated, and they will be asked to complete a swine flu survey (which you can download from the Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México website in English). Tests for the H1N1 virus may be administered to passengers.

"Passengers with high temperatures or testing positive for the H1N1 virus will be denied boarding," according to a Warden Message issued by the US Embassy to US citizens.

The survey asks passengers to check "yes" or "no" to having had the following symptoms over the past two days: fever higher than 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit), cough, headache, limb pain, joint pain, eye redness, nasal flux. 

The US Embassy has advised citizens to allow time for delays at the airport given the new screening procedures.

For further reading:

Budget Travel, Swine flu: Are fever scanners at airports worthwhile?

The gist: Since SARS hit in 2003 all passengers arriving at Hong Kong's main airport are "scanned" for fevers. Depending on the outcome, passengers are pulled aside for secondary screenings, which could lead to a hospital quarantine.

El Universal, Mexico City: US says passengers with symptoms will not be able to travel

The gist: Re-iterates the US Embassy Warden Message in Spanish, pointing out that the US Embassy and its consulates will close May 1 and reopen May 6.