MSNBC/Associated Press 1/14/04: Bird flu could be worse than SARS says WHO

[Guest guest]

>WHO: Asian bird flu could be worse than SARS

>The bird flu that has raced through chicken

>farms in Asia and killed at least three people

>in Vietnam could become a bigger problem for the

>region than SARS, the World Health Organization

>said.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3946427/

 

>

 

Doan Bao Chau / AP

A vendor sells chickens Monday at Ba Chieu Market

in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The city is

considering banning chickens amid a major bird

flu outbreak spreading through Asia.

WHO: Bird flu could be worse than SARS

Asian virus blamed for at least 3 deaths in Vietnam

 

Doan Bao Chau / AP

A vendor sells chickens Monday at Ba Chieu Market

in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The city is

considering banning chickens amid a major bird

flu outbreak spreading through Asia.

 

The Associated Press

Updated: 12:39 p.m. ET Jan. 14, 2004

 

HANOI, Vietnam - The bird flu that has raced

through chicken farms in Asia and killed at least

three people in Vietnam could become a bigger

problem for the region than SARS, the World

Health Organization said Wednesday.

 

The avian flu has killed millions of chickens in

South Korea, Vietnam and Japan, where officials

have ordered mass culls to try to contain the

outbreak. Hong Kong and Cambodia have banned

poultry imports from countries affected by the

bird flu.

 

WHO says tests are being conducted to determine

if the deaths of six additional people in Vietnam

are linked to the disease, but has stressed that

there has been no person-to-person spread of the

disease. Health officials attribute infections in

humans to contact with the feces of sick birds.

 

If the virus develops the ability to spread

through human contact, it could become a big

health crisis, WHO regional coordinator Peter

Cordingley said Wednesday in Manila, Philippines.

 

No defenses

It's " a bigger potential problem than SARS

because we don't have any defenses against the

disease, " Cordingley said. " If it latches on to a

human influenza virus, then it could cause

serious international damage. "

 

The bird flu scare comes just as China grapples

with new cases of severe acute respiratory

syndrome, or SARS, another ailment believed to

have originated in animals and which ravaged the

region's economy in a major outbreak last year.

 

China last week confirmed its first SARS case of

the season, and has since announced two

additional suspected cases, all in southern

Guangdong province, next to Hong Kong.

 

The bird flu's symptoms in humans include fever

and coughing and eventual pneumonia - similar to

SARS.

 

The three avian flu deaths in Vietnam - an adult

and two children - were confirmed Tuesday as

Influenza A or the H5N1 strain, the same virus

found in sick chickens in the country's south,

WHO said. The same strain of bird flu killed six

people in Hong Kong in 1997, when more than 1

million chickens and ducks were culled.

 

Health officials say they believe there is no

danger from eating properly cooked meat or the

eggs of affected chickens. Still, governments and

businesses in the region sought to bolster

consumer confidence in their poultry industries.

 

" There is no case reported of humans infected by

taking chicken meat or eggs, " Japanese

Agriculture Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei said.

" Therefore, I wish for the citizens of Japan to

react in a calm manner on this issue. "

 

Sick birds destroyed

Japanese officials said 10,000 chickens had died

from the bird flu and thousands of others would

be slaughtered.

 

The disease is spreading fast among poultry in

Vietnam, where more than 1 million chickens have

died in the latest outbreak. Farmers have been

ordered to destroy all sick birds.

 

An official at Ho Chi Minh City's only

crematorium said the facility has been running at

full capacity, 24 hours a day, over the past few

days, incinerating more than 2 tons of dead

chickens a day.

 

Thailand, among the world's largest poultry

exporters, declared itself free of bird flu.

 

An outbreak starting last month in South Korea

led to the slaughter of 1.1 million chickens and

ducks in an attempt to contain the disease.

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast,

rewritten or redistributed.

--