U.S. warns travelers about China's 7-day flu quarantine

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert about China's anti-flu measures that have led to some travelers being quarantined for a week.

China is imposing the seven-day quarantine on passengers arriving with a fever or flu-like symptoms in order to prevent the spread of swine flu.

"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 State Department said Monday in regard to China's H1N1 (swine-flu) procedures.

The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, was quarantined earlier this month for several days in Shanghai after arriving on a plane that carried a passenger who had symptoms of the virus. Nagin and his travel companions were symptom-free.

"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, " said the State Department.

In some cases, parents and children have been separated if a parent or child tested positive for the swine-flu virus. .

"This situation presents the possibility of Chinese medical personnel administering medications to minors without first having consulted their parents," said the travel alert.

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

All travelers to China, including U.S. citizens, are obliged to follow local public health-related measures, and there's no compensation for lost travel expenses. Travelers to China should consider buying travel insurance to protect against losses in case they are quarantined, recommended the State Department.

For more information on the travel alert, see www.travel.state.gov. For information about the flu, see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control site, www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu