October 6, 2005

 

US makes preparations against bird flu

 

The US Senate recently introduced a bill involving US$3.9 billion for preparations against bird flu.

 

Senate democrats also said they would introduce another bill calling for a flu pandemic coordinator to be created within the White House, and a federal buyback programme for unused flu vaccines, among other measures.

 

US President George W. Bush has also addressed a news conference, regarding the risks of a bird flu outbreak and possible containment measures. The president said he took the issue "very seriously" and sought to assure the public of the government's vigilance against the virus.

 

However, some senate democrats said the president's assurances were not enough, especially after Hurricane Katrina hit the country. They called for detailed plans and specific goals in the country's bird flu preparations.

 

US Health and Human Services Secretary, Mike Leavitt, planned to visit Asia soon where he could assess the bird flu threat himself.

 

Leavitt said several preventive steps were needed to guard against a flu pandemic: 

• An effective global surveillance programme against bird flu was needed
   
• The US needed to form its own comprehensive disease surveillance system
   
• Antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu by Roche Laboratories had to be made available 

Meanwhile, the government was underwriting research in a bid to speed up the creation of bird flu vaccines. Flu vaccines took nearly nine months to be manufactured.

 

The government has also contacted US embassies and consulates worldwide, to help raise bird flu awareness of American citizens overseas and about the risk of a possible pandemic.

 

Meanwhile, Russia's agriculture ministry said bird flu was still present in four western Siberian provinces, with outbreaks suspected in a fifth province.  

 

The Russian government said villages in the Altai, Omsk, Chelyabinsk and Kurgan regions still had confirmed bird flu outbreaks.

 

Recently, local Kurgan authorities separately confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at a large poultry farm in the province.