Asia must change age-old farming to stop bird flu:

[Guest guest]

Monday, September 26, 2005 E-Mail this article to a friend

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H E A L T H: Asia must change age-old farming to stop bird flu: WHO

 

Asia must change age-old farming practices to reduce contact between

people and poultry to limit bird flu and prevent new animal diseases

infecting humans, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

 

In launching a five-year plan to combat emerging diseases in the

Asia-Pacific region, WHO said on average one new disease had occurred

every year for the past 20 years, mainly in Africa and Asia, and

eventually one will become a pandemic. " Even if you control avian flu,

the next one is coming, " said Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO's regional director

for the Western Pacific, which stretches from China to Fiji. " I think it

is similar to tsunamis and earthquakes...we do not know when, " Omi told

WHO's Western Pacific annual conference in Noumea, capital of New

Caledonia in the South Pacific.

 

Avian flu was first detected in South Korea in 2003, only months after

SARS was contained, and quickly spread within months to Taiwan, Vietnam,

Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and China.

 

The contagious H5N1 strain of the disease has since killed 64 people in

four Asian countries and has spread to Russia and Europe, sparking

global fears it could mutate and become a pandemic killing millions of

people.

 

The latest deaths prompted Indonesia on Wednesday to say an outbreak in

the capital Jakarta could be called an epidemic. Millions of poultry

have been culled since 2003, but bird flu still spreads. " In my view

this is connected by the differences in the farming practices. In the

West farming practices are well controlled -- ducks, chickens and humans

do not mingle together, " Omi said. " Unless we address this fast we have

to expect more emerging diseases, particularly zoonoses, " diseases

spread from animal to human.

 

HIGH POPULATIONS, CONTACT: Omi said the spread of avian flu in Asia over

the past two years had correlated with areas of high populations and

high human-to-poultry contact. " If you look at the poultry density for

Asia, southern China, Vietnam, Cambodia have very dense populations. In

the past two years outbreaks of avian influenza correspond to where

(poultry) population density is very high, " he said.

 

Cambodia and Vietnam, where poultry is farmed in backyards and where

farmers live in close proximity to chickens and ducks, have bore the

brunt of avian flu deaths. Omi said Western Europe had equally dense

poultry populations but did not experience the same level of diseases as

Asia.

 

WHO said 75 percent of infectious diseases in the past 30 years

originating from animals (zoonoses), and the Asia-Pacific was " the

epicenter for such epidemics. "

 

Dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, leptospirosis, Nipah virus and

drug-resistant malaria are some of the diseases now entrenched in the

region, it said. Omi said globalization, which had seen an increase in

the movement of goods and people in Asia, and common borders had also

contributed to the spread of diseases, like SARS and bird flu. " There is

an urgent need to strengthen inter-country and bioregional

collaboration, " he said.

 

WHO's " Asia-Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases " plan launched on

Wednesday calls for greater co-operation between Asia-Pacific nations to

ensure early detection and rapid response to emerging diseases.

 

The plan said that although most countries had surveillance systems for

communicable diseases, they were not capable of being used as early

warning systems. " Many countries are still vulnerable to future disease

outbreaks and most countries are still not well prepared for early

detection and rapid response to emerging disease, " it said. reuters

 

 

--

Dave Neale

UK Director

Animals Asia Foundation

 

ANIMALS ASIA HAS A BRAND NEW WEBSITE!

Find out more about our historic China Bear Rescue and Friends or Food? projects

by visiting the Animals Asia Foundation website at http://www.animalsasia.org

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

David, I am not buying this:

 

 

 

" Cambodia and Vietnam, where poultry is farmed in backyards and where

farmers live in close proximity to chickens and ducks, have bore the

brunt of avian flu deaths. Omi said Western Europe had equally dense

poultry populations but did not experience the same level of diseases as

Asia. "

 

 

 

Nepal farms this way and has had zero reported flu cases. Call me a

conspiracy theorist, but is this just another way to institutionalize

western style barrack farming for poultry, where they have no place to nest

or exercise? It seems to me the problem has been diverted from the root

cause (I don't know what that is) to eliminating contact between humans and

poultry. We all know what that means, no? Huge computer-controlled and

economically maximized meat machines. I say let them all go free and roam

as nature intended. Go collect an egg if you have to, or lasso some chicken

wings for dinner, but let's do what we can to stop mass meat machines from

popping up all over Asia!

 

 

 

Jiggy, ANP Chair

 

 

 

http://www.animalnepal.org <http://www.animalnepal.org/>

 

 

 

_____

 

aapn [aapn ] On Behalf Of Dave

Neale

Monday, September 26, 2005 7:44 PM

aapn

Asia must change age-old farming to stop bird flu:

 

 

 

Monday, September 26, 2005 E-Mail this article to a friend

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26/2005%2010:57:02%20AM> & ndate=9/26/2005%2010:57:02%20AM>

 

H E A L T H: Asia must change age-old farming to stop bird flu: WHO

 

Asia must change age-old farming practices to reduce contact between

people and poultry to limit bird flu and prevent new animal diseases

infecting humans, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

 

In launching a five-year plan to combat emerging diseases in the

Asia-Pacific region, WHO said on average one new disease had occurred

every year for the past 20 years, mainly in Africa and Asia, and

eventually one will become a pandemic. " Even if you control avian flu,

the next one is coming, " said Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO's regional director

for the Western Pacific, which stretches from China to Fiji. " I think it

is similar to tsunamis and earthquakes...we do not know when, " Omi told

WHO's Western Pacific annual conference in Noumea, capital of New

Caledonia in the South Pacific.

 

Avian flu was first detected in South Korea in 2003, only months after

SARS was contained, and quickly spread within months to Taiwan, Vietnam,

Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and China.

 

The contagious H5N1 strain of the disease has since killed 64 people in

four Asian countries and has spread to Russia and Europe, sparking

global fears it could mutate and become a pandemic killing millions of

people.

 

The latest deaths prompted Indonesia on Wednesday to say an outbreak in

the capital Jakarta could be called an epidemic. Millions of poultry

have been culled since 2003, but bird flu still spreads. " In my view

this is connected by the differences in the farming practices. In the

West farming practices are well controlled -- ducks, chickens and humans

do not mingle together, " Omi said. " Unless we address this fast we have

to expect more emerging diseases, particularly zoonoses, " diseases

spread from animal to human.

 

HIGH POPULATIONS, CONTACT: Omi said the spread of avian flu in Asia over

the past two years had correlated with areas of high populations and

high human-to-poultry contact. " If you look at the poultry density for

Asia, southern China, Vietnam, Cambodia have very dense populations. In

the past two years outbreaks of avian influenza correspond to where

(poultry) population density is very high, " he said.

 

Cambodia and Vietnam, where poultry is farmed in backyards and where

farmers live in close proximity to chickens and ducks, have bore the

brunt of avian flu deaths. Omi said Western Europe had equally dense

poultry populations but did not experience the same level of diseases as

Asia.

 

WHO said 75 percent of infectious diseases in the past 30 years

originating from animals (zoonoses), and the Asia-Pacific was " the

epicenter for such epidemics. "

 

Dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, leptospirosis, Nipah virus and

drug-resistant malaria are some of the diseases now entrenched in the

region, it said. Omi said globalization, which had seen an increase in

the movement of goods and people in Asia, and common borders had also

contributed to the spread of diseases, like SARS and bird flu. " There is

an urgent need to strengthen inter-country and bioregional

collaboration, " he said.

 

WHO's " Asia-Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases " plan launched on

Wednesday calls for greater co-operation between Asia-Pacific nations to

ensure early detection and rapid response to emerging diseases.

 

The plan said that although most countries had surveillance systems for

communicable diseases, they were not capable of being used as early

warning systems. " Many countries are still vulnerable to future disease

outbreaks and most countries are still not well prepared for early

detection and rapid response to emerging disease, " it said. reuters

 

 

--

Dave Neale

UK Director

Animals Asia Foundation

 

ANIMALS ASIA HAS A BRAND NEW WEBSITE!

Find out more about our historic China Bear Rescue and Friends or Food?

projects

by visiting the Animals Asia Foundation website at

http://www.animalsasia.org