February 11, 2005

 

 

India urged to keep up vigil against avian flu

 

An international health expert has warned that India should be vigilant in the face of a serious threat of avian flu in Asia. 

 

"While the threat of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) resurfacing still persists in Asia, the bigger threat is of avian flu which has been reported in nine countries of the region," said J.S.M. Peiris, a clinical virologist in the University of Hong Kong's faculty of medicine.

 

Avian flu occurs worldwide but it was only in 1997 that the first case of spread to human beings was recorded in Hong Kong.

 

Out of 15 different strains of the avian flu virus, it is the H5N1 strain that is found capable of jumping from birds to humans and is singled out as having caused over 24 deaths.

 

Peiris, who is also associated with the World Health Organisation said, "I don't think India should take the risk of taking for granted that it would escape it and should take precautionary measures to not just protect the poultry industry, which is very vulnerable, but also human beings."

 

South Korea was the first to report evidence of an epidemic of highly pathogenic avian flu in December 2003

 

In 2004, two sisters died in the first recorded case in Vietnam, possibly after contacting the disease from their brother who had died of unidentified respiratory disease.

 

Later avian flu was detected in nine other countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, the US and Pakistan, which had a less virulent variety of avian flu.

 

India has fortunately escaped both SARS and the avian flu through several precautionary measures. In the case of avian flu, the government had also imposed a ban on import of live birds and other materials that could carry risk of spreading the disease.

 

At a two-day biotechnology meet organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in India, Peiris said other than several people diagnosed to have been infected with avian flu and who died, there were many who may not have been diagnosed.
"We continue to face the threat of it becoming pandemic across human beings. So far it was jumping from birds to human but there is certainly a risk of it spreading from human-to-human. If that happens we face grave risk," said Peiris.

 

Since influenza viruses are highly unstable, Peiris said, "the longer you allow it to test human immunity, the threat grows".

 

Though avian flu is present all round the year, the intensity grows during winter months.