Strict health checks as crowds gather for haj

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday more than half a million Muslims had arrived for next month's haj pilgrimage to Mecca and had been checked for disease, amid fears about the global spread of bird flu.

State news agency SPA quoted Health Minister Hamad al-Manei as saying the 622,000 pilgrims who had arrived up to now for the rites, due to begin in the second week of January, were "clear of any virus or illness".

"Anyone found to have an illness is sent back to his country immediately," he said, adding the kingdom had beefed up health checks at arrival points around the country. He did not say how many had been sent back so far.

Around 2.5 million Muslims from over 160 countries head for Mecca each year in one of the world's biggest religious rituals.

Many come from Asian countries, where the deadly H5N1 form of bird flu has killed more than 70 people since 2003.

Health experts have warned that the hundreds of thousands of people gathering in Mecca this year could risk creating the conditions in which a pandemic strain of flu could emerge.

Manei made no specific mention of bird flu, but officials say the kingdom has spent 25 million riyals ($6.7 million) to treat and prevent flu ahead of the haj season, especially among those in contact with birds.

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An Interior Ministry spokesman played down the concerns. “Worrying is normal but that doesn’t mean there are not enough procedures to prevent something like this,” he said.

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The authorities struggle each year to prevent unlicensed Saudis and foreign residents from taking part in the pilgrimage, swelling the already high numbers.

Experts fear bird flu could mutate into a strain which could be transmitted from person to person.

The risk of mutation would be increased if anyone with bird flu came to Mecca and mingled with people with seasonal flu among the huge crowds.

Experts say a flu pandemic among humans could kill millions around the globe and cause massive economic losses.