May 25, 2006

Africa still at risk for bird flu

The head of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said Wednesday (May 24) that all of Africa is susceptible to an outbreak of deadly bird flu, and his group would try to drum up funds to help stop the spread of the virus on the continent.

Bernard Vallat said although the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus strain has been slower in Africa than in Asia, his organisation was working under the hypothesis the entire continent was at risk--and not just half its 51 countries, as was previously thought.

"We need to act as if all (African) countries were going to be infected," Vallat told reporters in Paris. Many African countries lack the veterinary infrastructure needed to respond quickly to bird flu, he said.

Vallat said experts had underestimated the risk of an outbreak in Africa and pledged to launch an appeal for increased funding for the continent at a donor conference in Vienna next month.

So far, bird flu has been reported in seven African countries: Egypt, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Sudan.