World Health Organization officials have urged governments to act swiftly to control the spread of the bird flu, warning that "the world is in grave danger of a deadly pandemic that could kill millions."
 |
The bird flu has killed 45 people in Asia over the past year, in
cases largely traced to contact with sick birds, and experts have
warned the H5N1 virus could become far deadlier if it mutates into a
form that can be easily transmitted among humans. A global pandemic
could kill millions, they say. "We at WHO believe that the world is now in the gravest possible danger of a pandemic," said Dr. Shigeru Omi, the WHO's Western Pacific regional director. He said the world is "now overdue" for an influenza pandemic, since mass epidemics have occurred every 20-30 years. It has been nearly 40 years since the last one. |
Speaking at the opening of a three-day bird flu conference
in Ho Chi Minh City, Omi said it is critical that the international
community better coordinate its fight against the virus.
In recent outbreaks, bird flu has become more deadly than the strain found
in 1997 in Hong Kong, making the situation more urgent, he said.
| The mortality rate among identified patients who
contract the disease from chickens and ducks raised for food is
about 72 percent, Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, head of the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Monday. She added that
her agency was preparing for a possible pandemic in the comming
year.
"If the virus becomes highly contagious among humans, the health impact in terms of deaths and sickness will be enormous, and certainly much greater than SARS," Omi said, referring to severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed nearly 800 people in 2003. "This is why we are urging all governments to work now on a pandemic preparedness plan - so that even in an emergency such as this they will be able to provide basic public services such as transport, sanitation and power," he said. |
 Ducks being buried alive in Korea |
The disease, which devastated the region's poultry industry,
swept through nearly a dozen countries, has killed 32 Vietnamese, 12 Thais
and one Cambodian.
Officials acknowledge that one of the biggest challenges in controlling
avian flu is in altering traditional farming practices in Asia where animals
live in close, often unsanitary quarters with people.
"There is an increasing risk of avian influenza spread that no
poultry-keeping country can afford to ignore," said Dr. Samuel Jutzi, of the
United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization in the conference's
opening address.
Jutzi, director of the FAO's animal health and production division, said the
avian flu virus will persist in Asia for years and coordinated efforts need
to focus on controlling it at its source - in animals.
"This means addressing the transmission of the virus where the disease
occurs, in poultry, specifically chickens and ducks, and thus curbing the
disease occurrence in the region before it spreads to other parts of the
world," he said.
 |
The challenge for many countries affected by the virus is the
lack of effective diagnostic tools and surveillance systems needed
for early warning and timely response, he said. The regional conference held in southern Ho Chi Minh City near the Mekong Delta where the latest outbreaks emerged this year has brought together scientists and representatives from more than two dozen countries. Bird flu's reemergence in Vietnam, where 12 people have died this year alone, has shown the virus is now endemic in parts of the region. Thousands of birds are being destroyed in an effort to control the disease. |
"The longer the virus is circulating in animals, including
chickens and ducks, the greater the risk of human cases - and consequently,
the higher the risk of a pandemic virus emerging through genetic changes in
the virus," Omi said.
The virus has proven to be "very versatile and very resilient," and has even
been found in animals such as tigers and cats that weren't believed to be
susceptible to influenza, he added.
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
The Causation of Eating Poultry
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