WHO tackles China on swine flu measures

The World Health Organisation has asked China to justify its quarantine of travellers from Mexico, as international criticism grew of the aggressive measures adopted by countries that go beyond official scientific advice in responding to swine flu.

The WHO said yesterday it had begun “verifying what measures are being taken” by China, as part of a procedure defined in international health rules to ensure countries explain their actions in the face of an infectious disease outbreak.

Its move came as Mexico and Canada criticised China for confining citizens of both countries in hotels.

Canada separately threatened retaliatory action after China included it in a ban on imported pork already imposed on parts of the US and Mexico.

“China is operating outside of sound science . . . should they continue, there is a World Trade Organisation challenge which we would not hesitate to enact,” Gerry Ritz, Canadian agriculture minister, told parliament.

Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, told the FT this weekend that countries could take such steps under provisions of the International Health Regulations established in 2005, provided they could justify them to her agency.

She stressed that countries were under severe pressure in tackling the outbreak of swine flu, which has now spread with more than 1,100 cases of infection confirmed in more than 20 countries including 26 deaths.

The dispute could prove particularly delicate for Ms Chan, herself a Chinese national supported by China when she was elected in 2006.

WHO advice has emphasised that there is no scientific justification for travel bans, which do little to limit the spread of infection but cause considerable disruption, and has said there is no justification for culling pigs.

Felipe Calderón, Mexico's centre-right president, has launched a staunch defence of his country's efforts to contain the virus and criticised the “humiliating and discriminatory measures that some countries have taken against Mexicans”.

“The front line is Mexico and, from the trenches, we are defending not only Mexico but all human beings in the world who could become infected by this new illness. And the more that countries collaborate with us, the better we can fight this battle,” he said in a televised address on Monday.

He added: “That is why, in the name of all Mexicans, I ask all the nations that have done so, to stop taking measures that only hurt Mexico and do nothing towards avoiding the the illness spreading.”

The Canadian government has requested clarification over why 22 Canadian students were quarantined in a hotel last Saturday upon their arrival in the city of Changchun in Jilin province. Mexico has repatriated citizens held by the Chinese.