RIYADH, December 26, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Saudi authorities are tightening health checks ahead of hajj amid fears about the global spread of bird flu.

Health Minister Hamed Al-Manae confirmed on Sunday, December 26, that the 622,000 pilgrims who had arrived so far were "clear of any virus or illness," Reuters reported.

"Anyone found to have an illness is sent back to his country immediately," he said, adding that the kingdom had beefed up health checks at all arrival points.

The minister did not say how many, if any, had been sent back so far.

Around 2.5 million Muslims from over 160 world countries head for the holy city of Makkah every year for the spiritual journey, one of the world's biggest religious rituals.

Many come from Asian countries, where the deadly H5N1 form of bird flu has killed more than 70 people since 2003.

Saudi officials say the kingdom has spent 25 million riyals (US$6.7 million) to treat and prevent flu ahead of the hajj season, especially among those in contact with birds.

An Interior Ministry spokesman played down the concerns.

"Worrying is normal but that doesn't mean there are not enough procedures to prevent something like this," he said.

Didier Pittet, director of the Infection Control Program at Geneva's University Hospitals, has suggested calling off hajj over fears of an outbreak of a bird flu pandemic during the Muslim ritual.

The avian flu virus cannot pass among people the way ordinary seasonal flu does, but some experts fear it could mutate into a form which can be transmitted from person to person.

Hajj consists of several ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, once in their lifetime.