Wed 23 Feb 2005
World faces 'deadly bird flu pandemic'
THE world is
"perilously close" to a deadly bird flu pandemic, a top international
health official warned today.
Dr Shigeru Omi, the World Health Organisation's Western Pacific regional
director, told the opening of a three-day conference on bird flu that
health agencies around the world urgently needed to better co-ordinate
their fight against the virus.
"We at the WHO believe that the world is now in the gravest possible
danger of a pandemic," he said.
"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.
"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."
The conference is focused on long-term strategies for eradicating the
virus, which devastated south-east Asia's poultry industry last year as
it swept through nearly a dozen countries.
The disease has killed 45 people - 32 Vietnamese, 12 Thais and one
Cambodian - in cases largely traced to contact with sick birds.
Experts have repeatedly warned that the H5N1 bird flu virus could become
far deadlier still if it mutates into a form that can be easily
transmitted between humans, sparking a global pandemic that could kill
millions.
Scientists and representatives from more than two dozen countries met in
southern Ho Chi Minh City, near the Mekong Delta where the latest
outbreaks emerged this year.
Animal health officials said there was still time to stop the disease
from developing into a pandemic, by controlling transmission at source.
"This means addressing the transmission of the virus where the disease
occurs, in poultry, specifically free-range chickens and wetland
dwelling ducks," said Dr Samuel Jutzi, of the United Nation's Food and
Agriculture Organisation.
Still, many countries affected by the virus lack effective diagnostic
tools and surveillance systems needed for early warning and timely
response, he said.