A security staff member deployed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport tested positive for the H1N1 influenza on Tuesday. 

The infected person is a sub-inspector with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the security force that performs anti-hijack and anti-sabotage checks at the airport, sources at the airport health office said.

“There is a suspected case of H1N1 at the IGI Airport,” CISF spokesperson Rohit Katiyar said. “He has been quarantined and is being administered proper care. The situation is being closely monitored.”

In the present state of affairs, passengers from flu-affected countries are being screened only at the entry points of the airport to check for and quarantine those infected with the “imported virus”. However, with the flu assuming proportions of a pandemic and spreading at a rapid pace within the country, sources said the Union Ministry of Health, together with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is now contemplating conducting exit screening at the airport for passengers flying out of Delhi as well.

Sources said the Health ministry provides close to 500 masks to personnel working at the airport.

The airport health official (APHO) said it is now mandatory for every staff member at the international arrival terminal to wear protective masks within the pre-immigration and arrival clearance areas.

While the latest case underlines the vulnerability of airport officials to contracting the virus from passengers coming in from flu-affected countries, staff members of private airlines and ground-handling companies said there is a shortage of masks at the airport.

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