A ban on domestic travel could delay the spread of a flu pandemic
A near total ban on domestic travel could delay the spread of a flu pandemic by a week or more, particularly if the outbreak originates in a regional town or small city such as Darwin, according to new modelling by Australian researchers.
Regional and inland communities could be virtually quarantined from a pandemic if travel controls are rigidly applied and introduced very early on in an outbreak, according to Dr James Wood, a lecturer at the University of Sydney.
Dr Wood, who is also a researcher at the university's National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, said: "Travel would need to be reduced to 10% to 1% of normal travel volumes to be effective."
