Thailand’s government has ordered 1,000 specialist RFID-based tags from Active Tagging to help monitor people with suspected swine flu currently being held in quarantine areas in the country.

The Xtag will be fitted to people’s ankles and will relay a signal should someone wander from a predefined safe spot.

Being only 30mm in diameter and 10mm thick, each Xtag weighs a mere 10mg and are held in place by a soft tamperproof Velcro strap.

Active Tagging has recently won contracts to supply tags to 200 public hospitals across Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai, as well as to the Singapore army for use with its military research equipment.

Chris Bullock, managing director of Active Tagging, said: “There are, as yet, no confirmed outbreaks of swine flu in Thailand, but it is a major tourist hub, so needs to put in place many measures.

“Officials have already donated 100,000 face masks to taxi drivers and hotels to try to prevent the spread of the virus, while health ministers from across Southeast Asian are to meet on 7 May to discuss a regional approach to combating it.

“The Xtag contains a radio transmitter that sends a signal every second to show it is functioning properly, and these messages are monitored by a dedicated PC so that the tags are supervised continuously.

“Sensors positioned around the quarantined areas also relay a signal to the computer, and should a potential security issue arise then an SMS text or email is immediately triggered to a member of staff.”

The Xtag system is already in place in many hospitals across the UK, particularly in maternity wards to ensure the safety of new born babies.

Chris added: “We have a satellite office in Dubai to help win business across the Middle East and Asia, and this is headed up by a former GlaxoSmithKline senior executive, Dr Shahid Raza.

“Active Tagging’s unique and innovative technology provides intelligent location and tracking in any environment from medical to military, commercial through to scientific.”

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