WHO Warns Global BIRD FLU Pandemic

2005-8-11 20:44:55 CRIENGLISH.com

A World Health Organisation official warned of a possible global bird flu pandemic on Thursday, and urged governments and health workers around the world to prepare for a possible worst-case scenario.
Doctor Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for Western Pacific, said the disease still kills people.

"It is true that this virus continues to kill people and birds, and as a matter of fact, this virus is very active in north Asia and also south Asia, but now, it is spreading to neighbouring parts of Europe, so this is not the time to be complacent."

Bird flu has killed 61 people in Asia and devastated poultry stocks across the region since late 2003.

The virus has now been found in five regions in Siberia over the past month, although no cases of human infection have been found.

Officials have warned that the virus could spread to European Russia, which is more densely populated than Asian Russia, in the autumn when birds migrate south from Siberia.

Omi, however, says that there is still a window of opportunity to protect humans, by aggressively implementing measures to contain the virus.

"Despite a wide spread of the virus in this part of the world, I think, still we see the opportunity to protect the humans by containing the virus both in domestic and wild birds." And with the very aggressive vaccination campaign, with also the culling of the poultry, also

He says much more is to be done, including an aggressive vaccination campaign, the immediate culling of infected poultry, as well as close monitoring of the virus.

http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/537/2005/08/11/[email protected]