July 12, 2004

Asian Bird Flu Outbreak Unlikely To Be Widespread
 
The latest return of a deadly strain of the bird flu virus in Thailand, China and Vietnam is unlikely to develop into the large-scale outbreak seen earlier this year.
 
This is because the local governments have taken prompt action this time, according to an expert from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization and officials from the affected countries.
 
A few days after Vietnam reported new outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu, China and Thailand reported on Tuesday the highly contagious disease, which had ravaged the region's poultry industry earlier this year. Since then, about 1 million chickens have been slaughtered to halt the spread. It has reportedly killed 24 people.
 
But experts from the FAO and officials from the infected countries said people need not panic this time, as the latest outbreaks seem to be isolated and well-contained so far.
 
"We have seen sporadic outbreaks (in this region). So far, the countries have reacted in the way they should have - taken necessary steps and applied immediate actions. We don't expect a wide and rapid spread (of the disease) as seen in January, February and March," said Hans Wagner, a senior regional animal production and health officer at FAO's regional office in Bangkok.
 
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was quoted as saying that the new outbreak of bird flu in Thailand will be soon put under control because the affected area is quite limited.
 
Officials from China's Ministry of Agriculture have echoed that view. China's Central Television Station reported, quoting Shen Zhenzhao, the head of animal husbandry and veterinary division of China's Ministry of Agriculture, as saying the only dead bird found in a waterfront poultry farm in Chaohu, Anhui province, appears to be an isolated case.
 
"As to a scenario of large-scale spread of the disease, we think it's not very likely," Shen said.
 
China has the ability to handle the prevention of a large-scale bird flu outbreak, as the country has learned its lesson earlier this year, Shen said.
 
The current high temperature in summer is expected to help contain the spread of the disease, he added.
 
Apart from rushing to cull more than 20,000 ducks and chickens raised in a three-mile radius of the infected poultry farm in Anhui, China's government agencies wasted no time in halting the spread, according to various state media reports.
 
China's quarantine authority asked all the local branches to ban exports of any poultry-related products from Anhui province unless the product has been treated for at least one minute in an environment above 70 Celsius.
 
The government agency also said it will tighten inspection on all poultry products supplied to Hong Kong and Macau, two metropolitan areas that have been frequently affected by epidemics that emerged in mainland China.
 
China's Ministry of Health, an agency responsible for hygiene and human health, sent a task force to Anhui province to help prevent the pathogen from jumping to humans, a known path that potentially transforms mild human flu virus into a new killer hybrid by swapping genetic information between the human flu and bird flu.
 
People who have been in close contact with the infected farm in Anhui have been registered and their daily body temperatures are closely monitored by the government.
 
So far, there hasn't been any abnormal sickness detected among them, the Ministry of Health said.
 
The local hospitals in Anhui province have been told to keep a written record of all patients. People with certain professions, such as chicken breeders and veterinarians, who have high exposure to birds, will have to have their anti-body level measured. Their relatives will also be subjected to the same tests.
 
All hospitals and local medical institutions will also have to inform Beijing directly of any flu, deaths and unknown sickness using the intranet.
 
China's Ministry of Agriculture have also sent a team to Anhui to help quarantine workers from the affected farm and size up the situation, the agency said in a report on its Web site.
 
The report calls the latest bird flu outbreak a virus "insurgency" and claims success in containing it.
 
However, experts cautioned that governments in the region shouldn't be complacent, as the deadly pathogen is far from being eradicated, and will continue to pose a threat to birds and humans for a long time.