 The impact on Western Samoa was particularly poignant in view of the success of the American authorities in preventing pandemic influenza from gaining a foothold in islands under their administration (even though these were only about from the New Zealand-administered islands.Without orders from his government (but based on what he learned from a radio news service) the governor of American Samoa, Navy Commander John M. Poyer, instituted a rigorous quarantine policy.When he heard of the outbreak on Western Samoa, he banned travel to or from the neighbouring islands.