MSNBC Signs point to global flu outbreak, WHO says

[Guest guest]

>Signs point to global flu outbreak, WHO says

>Indonesia's first human bird flu case, coupled

>with more birds dying elsewhere including

>Russia, are signs a long-dreaded global

>influenza pandemic may be approaching, the World

>Health Organization said.

>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8667835/

>

Signs point to global flu outbreak, WHO says

Recent events stir growing concerns among health officials tracking virus

Reuters

Updated: 12:17 p.m. ET July 22, 2005

 

 

GENEVA - Indonesia's first human bird flu case,

coupled with more birds dying elsewhere including

Russia, are signs a long-dreaded global influenza

pandemic may be approaching, the World Health

Organization said on Friday.

 

Health officials fear the virus will mutate and

mix with human influenza, creating a deadly

pandemic strain that becomes easily transmissible

and could kill millions of people.

 

Margaret Chan, WHO's new director for pandemic

influenza preparedness, said there had been no

known sustained human to human transmission of

the deadly virus, but called for stepping up

disease surveillance among poultry and humans

worldwide.

 

Indonesia this week confirmed its first death

from the virus, which has so far killed more than

50 people since late 2003 in Vietnam, Thailand

and Cambodia, roughly half of the known cases.

 

An Indonesian government official was confirmed

as having died of the H5N1 bird flu virus, but

results of laboratory tests on his two young

daughters who also died are still awaited.

 

'More and more birds are dying'

" This is more evidence for us to be concerned

about developments in the region, " Chan told a

news briefing.

 

" This is perhaps the only time since 1968, which

was the last pandemic, that we are getting signs,

symptoms and warnings from nature ... More and

more birds are dying in different parts of the

world - this is the kind of signals, and early

warnings that we are referring to. "

 

Russia this week said it had discovered a disease

in poultry in a remote village in Siberia, its

first suspected case of bird flu. Around 300

birds died and specimens are being analyzed.

 

Chan, a former health director of Hong Kong who

helped contain its bird flu and SARS outbreaks of

1997, said the WHO's risk assessment of a global

pandemic still stood at three on a scale of six.

 

" We need to be very vigilant and look for early

signals or signs of sustained human to human

transmission, " she said. " We need to advise

people from farm to table on what actions they

can take or can advise communities to take to

reduce that risk. "

 

Preventative measures

Mixed poultry trading - where ducks, geese,

chickens and sometimes pigeons are sold

side-by-side at market - can be an " enabling

environment for the virus to mutate, " Chan said.

 

Recommended measures include separating poultry,

vaccination of poultry, and other biosecurity

measures on farms, she said.

 

" Our experience is that if you are prepared for a

pandemic you get less impact in terms of

mortality and morbidity and social and economic

disruption, " she said.

 

Chan also said that the WHO, a United Nations

agency, was still pressing China to allow

international laboratories to examine specimens

from birds in Qinghai, where the H5N1 virus has

killed more than 5,000 birds from five species.

 

The WHO is urging China to test the other 184

species in the area, fearing birds which appear

healthy could also spread the disease. This would

help understand the evolution of the virus and

inform public health decisions, according to Chan.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights

reserved. Republication or redistribution of

Reuters content is expressly prohibited without

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© 2005 MSNBC.com

 

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8667835/

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