June 23, 2005

Drug used to treat poultry with bird flu in China expensive compared with vaccines
 

High costs of the anti-viral drug that has been used to treat Chinese poultry infected with deadly bird flu will eventually limit the extent of its usage, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday.

The World Health Organisation on Tuesday reported that amantadine, an anti-viral drug meant for humans, had been used on birds at Chinese farms, a practice that threatens to make the medication useless for fighting human influenza.

In a report to the FAO, China's Ministry of Agriculture said the government had never approved use of amantadine on birds and that it was well aware of the risks, Noureddin Mona, the FAO's representative in China, said. Nevertheless, the scope of use of the anti-viral drug would be limited in China because of the price.

Using amantadine on poultry is very costly and not economical, because you have to use it every day, unlike the vaccines that are used once every six months, Mona said.

In contrast, bird flu vaccines in China are cheap and are distributed to some institutions like veterinary departments free of charge. Farmers buying them on their own can also get subsidies or compensation.