Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | June 2009 32 M acau depends for its livelihood on attracting as many people as possible from all over the world to enjoy its gaming, leisure and conference facilities. This month’s G2E Asia trade exhibition and conference for the gaming industry at The Venetian Macao, drawing in delegates from all over the globe, is a good example of the place’s international appeal. But Macau’s greatest strength is also potentially its greatest liability at the time of a global public health alert such as the current swine flu outbreak. Modern air travel in particular provides human pathogens with the equivalent of a rapid transit network that can spread disease from one continent to another within hours. Macau escaped the worst of the physical threat caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) emergency that hit Hong Kong and southern China in late 2002 and the first half of 2003. Only one case of SARS was confirmed in Macau—that of a 25-year- old British national working as an English teacher thought to have caught it after a one-day visit to Hong Kong. The patient recovered, but the territory suffered economically as panic spread and people stopped travelling in and to the Pearl River Delta Region. Flu Fighters Macau is taking a measured but robust approach to the threat of pandemic