Bird flu: World is on the edge
SEAN YOONG
IN KUALA LUMPUR
ASIA'S bird flu outbreak is at a critical stage where it could easily become a human pandemic, health experts warned yesterday, urging mass poultry vaccinations to prevent a crisis.
Dr Shigeru Omi, of the World Health Organisation, said at the opening of a three-day United Nations conference on bird flu that the virus has "tightened its grip" on the region and is capable of springing major surprises.
Cases of human infection have been reported in Vietnam, with others likely in Cambodia and Indonesia, while fears are growing that infected migratory birds in China could spread the virus to India and Pakistan.
"We believe we are at the tipping point. Either we ... reverse this trend or things will get out of hand," Dr Omi said. "We must have an all-out war against this virus."
The flu, which has killed 54 people in Asia, currently appears to spread to people only when they come into close contact with sick poultry.
But medical experts fear that the H5N1 bird flu strain could mutate into a form that easily passes between people and trigger a global pandemic because people have developed no resistance to the strain.
"The virus has behaved in ways that suggest it remains as unstable, unpredictable and versatile as ever," Dr Omi said.
The pandemic threat has been enforced by its re-emergence in China's Qinghai province, where it killed 6,000 wild migratory birds last month.
Mr Omi said China must investigate outbreaks in Qinghai more rigorously and show more transparency about the reported misuse of an anti-viral drug on poultry.
Officials there must determine whether apparently healthy birds might have been infected without showing symptoms, Mr Omi said.
China has said it would conduct such testing, but needs international help.
Health experts have warned that migratory geese and gulls in Qinghai could spread the virus when they fly south this summer, possibly to places such as India and Pakistan.
Full Story
IN KUALA LUMPUR
ASIA'S bird flu outbreak is at a critical stage where it could easily become a human pandemic, health experts warned yesterday, urging mass poultry vaccinations to prevent a crisis.
Dr Shigeru Omi, of the World Health Organisation, said at the opening of a three-day United Nations conference on bird flu that the virus has "tightened its grip" on the region and is capable of springing major surprises.
Cases of human infection have been reported in Vietnam, with others likely in Cambodia and Indonesia, while fears are growing that infected migratory birds in China could spread the virus to India and Pakistan.
"We believe we are at the tipping point. Either we ... reverse this trend or things will get out of hand," Dr Omi said. "We must have an all-out war against this virus."
The flu, which has killed 54 people in Asia, currently appears to spread to people only when they come into close contact with sick poultry.
But medical experts fear that the H5N1 bird flu strain could mutate into a form that easily passes between people and trigger a global pandemic because people have developed no resistance to the strain.
"The virus has behaved in ways that suggest it remains as unstable, unpredictable and versatile as ever," Dr Omi said.
The pandemic threat has been enforced by its re-emergence in China's Qinghai province, where it killed 6,000 wild migratory birds last month.
Mr Omi said China must investigate outbreaks in Qinghai more rigorously and show more transparency about the reported misuse of an anti-viral drug on poultry.
Officials there must determine whether apparently healthy birds might have been infected without showing symptoms, Mr Omi said.
China has said it would conduct such testing, but needs international help.
Health experts have warned that migratory geese and gulls in Qinghai could spread the virus when they fly south this summer, possibly to places such as India and Pakistan.
Full Story
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