Air loophole must be shut; Record View.

IN less than a week, swine flu has gone from being an unheard-of ailment to the most feared disease on the planet.

It's only taken a few days but it has spread to almost every corner of the globe.

This is, indeed, a small world we now live in.

The important matters now are how the world reacts and how the authorities respond to the risks and the threats of what could be the first pandemic since the 1960s.

In Scotland, health minister Nicola Sturgeon has demonstrated her strong leadership skills allied to her usual slick professional presentation in her handling of the affair.

She's conducted media events with a commendable sure-footedness.

And her fluid delivery combined with a lack of hesitancy is exactly what's required to instil public confidence at a time of worry and uncertainty.

Not too impressive, however, is the fact that airlines don't seem to keep their passenger manifests on file for any length of time after a flight has landed.

Britain's first swine flu victims, Iain and Dawn Askham, flew back from Mexico on April 21 - just nine days ago.

They were on a plane for close to nine hours breathing the same air as hundreds of others.

Normally, you would think the other passengers and the crew would be the first to be contacted and checked over for any signs of illness given their close contact with the carriers.

But, unbelievably, we learned yesterday that these records don't exist.

It's a major flaw in the system which must be corrected.

After all, what if the police had been trying to track down suspected terrorists and there were no records on file?