First Line Of H1N1 Flu Defense?

(CBS)  Airports around the world are rushing to install Flir thermal imaging cameras, which some say might prevent the spread of H1N1 flu, also known as the swine flu.

Paul Czerepuszko of Flir Systems, which manufactures the devices, showed Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez how to use it.

"We can look at a population of people coming through, perhaps, a customs or immigration line," he explained. "So as people walk through, what the camera can do is look at the thermal patterns of their faces.

"Not only look at the thermal pattern, but actually measure the temperature and try to get some type of quantitative idea: 'is this person elevated versus the population of people that just came through.'"

A member of The Early Show audience was given a small heating pad to demonstrate the camera's detection. A spot jumped around the screen of the camera until it found the heating pad in her hand and then the temperature went up to 98.6.

According to Czerepuszko, what to look for is "the gross differences in temperature amongst a population."

If the difference in temperature is there, then a person will likely be stopped and questioned.

"Again, we're looking for the temperature differentials amongst a whole crowd of people," he said. "So we can do further investigation. You know, 'Where have you been? Have you been in contact with anybody, who might be in contact with the swine flu?'"

The Flir thermal imaging cameras have caught on at airports abroad, but not in the U.S.

"We have about 250 installed all over the world," he noted. "Not quite in the U.S. There's some larger companies here in the U.S. that are using them in their own manufacturing plants, but from an airport perspective, [it's mainly] Bangkok, Taiwan, Hong Kong - those types of areas."