Taking the swine flu scare seriously, the Department of Public Health is leaving nothing to chance! The department has opened four special counters at the Chennai airport to screen all passengers, arriving either directly from other countries or by domestic connecting flights from other Indian cities, for warning signs of the dreaded flu that has struck Mexico, and parts of US and Canada.

On Saturday, the doctors and paramedics on duty screened nearly 4,000 passengers. Thankfully though, no case of the swine flu was detected! However, talking about any possible detection in the coming days, Joint Director of Health Services Dr. M. Duraikannan said that the passengers suspected of flu will be sent to a quarantine ward at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.

About the spread of the flu, Duraikannan said: "If the cases in Mexico and elsewhere are sporadic, the alert here will not be on this scale. But, the problem is that swine flu is now an epidemic and we cannot take chances in Coimbatore that is a gateway to tourists bound for Udhagamandalam and Kerala."

For safety purposes, immigration and health officials have been provided with three-layered masks. In addition, 'sensitization' efforts too are underway, in the form of distribution of pamphlets describing the causes and symptoms of the swine flu, as well as its preventive measures.