October 22, 2007

US earmarks additional US$38 million to help UN agency fight bird flu

The US will contribute an additional US$38 million to a UN program that works to control and prevent the spread of bird flu in animals worldwide, the UN food agency that runs the program said Wednesday.

With the new funds provided by the US Agency for International Development, US support for the program will total US$63 million, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said.

"Avian influenza will probably stay with us for several years to come," said Joseph Domenech, the agency's chief veterinary officer. "The support from the United States will enable FAO to continue and strengthen avian influenza prevention and control campaigns in affected countries."

The FAO is helping more than 100 countries fight bird flu. The US is the largest donor in the program, followed by Australia and Japan.

The agency said the new funds will go into surveillance of birds and poultry as well as personnel training and laboratory projects across Europe, Asia and Africa, including countries like Indonesia and Egypt, which are among the hardest hit by the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Since it began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003 H5N1 has killed 202 people, according to the World Health Organization.

The disease remains hard for people to catch - most cases have so far been traced to contact with infected birds. But experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily between humans, potentially sparking a global pandemic.