The Association of Corporate Travel Executives’ (ACTE) has put its 2,500 members on a global “pandemic alert”, following reports of a simultaneous outbreak of a new type of swine influenza in three Mexican cities, and with cases reported in the U.S. and Europe. The association is taking published reports on the trans-species influenza very seriously, and is urging all members to familiarize themselves with contagion and pandemic awareness plans - first conceived during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003. According to ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley, more than half of the association’s membership has complete contagion and pandemic plans, while another percentage have regionalized programs, designed to work around areas of infection.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been warning us for years that the potential for a pandemic, spread almost overnight through global travel networks, is not only possible, but likely,” said Gurley. “Six years ago, SARS spread from rural Asian villages to 37 countries in a matter of weeks, taxing medical facilities in two of the largest, and best equipped, cities in the world. The lessons of SARS need to be studied now, with all the appropriate precautions put into place immediately.”

ACTE’s alert does not advise the cancellation of travel or postponing travel.

“Statements like those made by the European Union’s Health Commissioner, Andorra Vassiliou, advising Europeans to postpone non-essential travel to the United States, as well as Mexico, are a clear indication of how seriously ranking officials in the rest of the world are taking this new threat,” said Gurley. “Britons have also been advised to revise their travel plans to the U.S. in response to the announcement that there are 20 cases of the H1N1 swine influenza in five states.” (These are California, Kansas, New York, Ohio, and Texas.)  By contrast, the CDC noted that of the 20 confirmed cases of the H1N1 swine influenza, only two were hospitalized and all have recovered. As a result, the CDC has not issued a recommendation to avoid travel.

“Events such as this reinforce the importance of companies having a solid travel risk management program in place. Programs must be proactive and include constant communication during a crisis, in order to minimize risk to employees,” said Gurley. “In addition, processes must be constantly reviewed and renewed, so that when a crisis does occur, a company is able to respond quickly and effectively.”

The primary concern for the spread of this H1N1 swine influenza is that the majority of the 100 fatalities in Mexico were robust, healthy people, at the core of the workforce.

The CDC advises that travel to areas where infection has been reported should include moderate preparation, such as checking for the latest updates to H1N1 swine influenza advisories, and announcements posted by state medical facilities.

Data from leading flight search company Skyscanner shows that travellers planning trips to Mexico are so far undeterred by the outbreak of swine flu influenza announced by Mexico’s Federal Health Ministry on the 22nd April.

“Dire predictions have already been made about the impact that this will have on tourism, but the number of Skyscanner users searching for flights to Mexico has remained stable in the days since news emerged of the outbreak” said Skyscanner director and co-founder Barry Smith.

“We would have expected to see some negative impact, but it may be that travellers are reassured by the fact that the outbreak is largely concentrated in Mexico City - a two hour flight from the coastal resorts - and by the fact that the Foreign Office has not made a recommendation that people stay away. We’ll get a clearer picture in the next few days as the news spreads and the implications for travellers are fully understood.”