July 7, 2005

UN releases strategy for Asia's poultry industry against bird flu
 

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Organisation (OIE) for Animal Health have released an anti-bird flu strategy for Asia's poultry industry, following a three-day conference in Malaysia.

The FAO said that the strategy's objective was to combat the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu at its source. The initial focus of the campaign would be cleaning up "wet markets" and small backyard farms.

"Wet markets" were a major concern because animals were often slaughtered in unsanitary conditions, while backyard farms where animals live in close proximity to humans might encourage the spread of bird flu, the FAO said.

Some measures called for included:

• Educating backyard farmers and their families about the dangers of high-risk activities with possible exposure to the virus, and how to change their farming practices.
   
• Separating different species of livestock in backyard farms to lower the risk of bird flu being transmitted or mutating into a form more easily spread among humans.
   
• Adequate government compensation for farmers encouraging them to report suspected bird flu outbreaks in their flocks and to apply control measures.
   
• Vaccinating poultry flocks as part of a variety of responses to the bird flu threat in high-risk areas.
   
• Stricter livestock monitoring and new procedures that would allow animal origins to be traced if infections were discovered among them.
   
• More research into new bird flu vaccines for animals and humans, further study on the virus's behaviour, and the role of wildlife in spreading the disease.
   
• Greater transparency on the part of farmers and governments about declaring outbreaks.
   
• Rich countries and international donors to provide about US$250 million funding over three years to support poor Asian countries against bird flu.