United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC  20520 

CHINA

June 19, 2009

The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the quarantine measures imposed by the Government of China in response to the 2009-H1N1 pandemic that may affect travel to China.  This Travel Alert expires on September 30, 2009.

Current quarantine measures in China include placing arriving passengers who exhibit fever or flu-like symptoms into seven-day quarantine.  Although the proportion of arriving Americans being quarantined remains low, the random nature of the selection process increases the uncertainty surrounding travel to China.  The selection process focuses on those sitting in close proximity to another traveler exhibiting fever or flu-like symptoms or on those displaying an elevated temperature if arriving from an area where outbreaks of 2009-H1N1 have occurred.  We have reports of passengers arriving from areas where outbreaks have occurred (including the U.S. and Mexico) being placed in precautionary quarantine simply because they registered slightly elevated temperatures. 

In some instances, children have been separated from their parents because either the parent or the child tested positive for 2009-H1N1 and was placed in quarantine for treatment.  This situation presents the possibility of Chinese medical personnel administering medications to minors without first having consulted their parents. 

The Department of State has received reports about unsuitable quarantine conditions, including the unavailability of suitable drinking water and food, unsanitary conditions, and the inability to communicate with others.

Travelers to China are reminded that all foreign travelers, including U.S. citizens, are obliged to follow local procedures regarding quarantines and any other public health-related measures.  The U.S. Embassy will be unable to influence the duration of stay in quarantine for affected travelers.   The Chinese government will not compensate people for lost travel expenses.  Travelers to China are urged to consider purchasing travel insurance to protect against losses in the event they are quarantined.

For more information on U.S. Government policy during a pandemic, and for travel safety information, please see the State Department’s “Pandemic/Avian Influenza” and “Remain in Country” fact sheets on http://www.travel.state.gov.  Further information about 2009-H1N1 Influenza, including steps you can take to stay healthy, can be found at  the U.S. Centers for Disease Control website at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/, the U.S. Government pandemic influenza website at http://www.pandemicflu.gov, and the World Health Organization website at http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html.

U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the Department of State’s travel registration website.  By registering, American citizens can receive the Embassy’s most recent security and safety updates during their trip. Registration also ensures that U.S. citizens can be reached should an emergency arise either abroad or at home. While consular officers will do their utmost to assist Americans in a crisis, travelers always should be aware that local authorities bear primary responsibility for the welfare of people living or traveling in their jurisdictions. 

Beijing: The U.S. Embassy is located at No. 55 An Jia Lou Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing.  The American Citizen Services section can be contacted during regular business hours and for after-hours emergencies at (86) (10) 8531-4000 or by e-mail.  For detailed information please visit the U.S. Embassy web site. The Embassy consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi.

Chengdu: The U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu is located at Number 4, Lingshiguan Road, Section 4, Renmin Nanlu, Chengdu 610041; tel. (86)(28) 8558-3992, 8555-3119; after-hours emergencies (86) 1370 8001 422, and can be contacted via email. This consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Guizhou, Sichuan Xizang (Tibet), and Yunnan, as well as the municipality of Chongqing.

Guangzhou: The main office of the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou is located at Number 1 South Shamian Street, Shamian Island 200S1, Guangzhou 510133.  The Consular Section, including the American Citizens Services Unit, is now located at 5th Floor, Tianyu Garden (II phase), 136-146 Lin He Zhong Lu, Tianhe District; tel. (86)(20) 8518-7605; after-hours emergencies (86)(20) 8121-8000; and contact by email. This consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and Fujian.

Shanghai:  The Consular Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai is located in the Westgate Mall, 8th Floor, 1038 Nanjing Xi Lu, Shanghai 200031; tel. (86)(21) 3217-4650, ext. 2102, 2013, or 2134; after-hours emergencies (86)(21) 6433-3936; inquiries can be made via email. This consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Shenyang:  The U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang is located at No. 52, 14th Wei Road, Heping District, Shenyang 110003; tel. (86)(24) 2322-2374; after-hours emergencies (86) 137-0988-9307; contact may be made via email. This consular district includes the following provinces/regions of China: Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Jilin.

A couple of non hysterical responses.

1. The fact that the US CDC does not list face masts as “what to do” does not in any way imply that they are of no help. Indeed, Asian CDC’s do in fact list them, provide them for free and encourage people in large metropolises to wear them for any and all kinds of flu. High density cities like HK with much more (and more recent) experience in contagious respiratory infections insist that as soon as there is even a suspected case individuals are masked. Trans-pacific flight crews are masked and no cases are reported within crews and yet the most cases are coming from the US and Mexico via air travelers.

2. The fact that “normal” flu is more deadly on an annual basis is more deadly than new H1N1 does not mean that there should be no concern for the health or safety of individual subject to this new strain. I personally think that the whole H1N1 scare was over blown. But should we only take precautions against the most deadly diseases in the world? Regardless of the hyperbole, most cases are coming from North/Central America and sick people are, instead of being denied access to the flight in the first place, being pulled off and quarantined in Asia (at the expense of Asian Govt’s). The cases in Asia are DIRECTLY attributable to people traveling from the West to Asia—precisely because there is no testing in public places in the West—as Asian governments are anxiously pointing out. As flu season in the West (winter) approaches we’ll see more and more cases just like southern hemisphere countries are seeing numbers increase now.

3. With the economy as it is now, to attribute the lack of any expensive/troublesome new activities to anything but cost finance would be naïve, I believe.

4. Finally, I was never angry that I was quarantined. I understand the need and the concern, even if I don’t believe all the hype. My frustration was with the ignorant, unfair and ineffective process in China (as opposed to those in HK) and my own overly-honest response to the original questionnaire. My final response to other comments stating that the US should be doing more does not negate any of my frustrations at the processes here either.

Face masks are not recommended and generally regarded as having little or no effect; face masks are not listed by What You Can Do to Stay Healthy on the website of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as an effective protective measure against this influenza which is spread person to person. The CDC also reports “the attack rate (is) similar to seasonal influenza”, and that “(a)s of June 15, 2009 there have been over 35,900 laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza A in 76 countries, including 163 deaths”. That’s a mortality rate of 0.45%. Yet, a calculation published in Emerging Themes in Epidemiology, volume 5, 2008, showed that “(f)or the eleven year study period (1995-2005), a total of 260,814… deaths was attributed to influenza, corresponding to an annual average of 23,710, or 0.91% of all deaths.” Although this statistical study was limited to the US you can see that the mortality rate of seasonal influenza at 0.91% is higher than that now confirmed to H1N1, 0.45%. H1N1 does not pose a higher lethality, a fact the informed public well understands unless given over to hysteria, and despite the psychological comfort of face masks and temperature checks at airports. That news of H1N1 no longer occupies any meaningful space in the Western press eager for sensationalism shows there is no issue here, or do you smell collusion and cabals at work?

You then go on to accuse The West of exporting the disease to Asia rather than affect profits. Uh, what are you on? I can’t believe prescription meds would give a person such intense delusions.