December 7, 2006

UN says threat of H5N1 remains

The H5N1 bird flu virus remains a powerful threat to animals and humans, and the most vulnerable regions include South-east Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, the UN food agency said Wednesday (Dec 6).

"The possibility of a human pandemic hangs over us," the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned in a statement to be read at Thursday's donor conference in Bamako, Mali.

"Failure by any one country to contain the disease could lead to rapid re-infection in many more countries," said Alexander Muller, assistant director-general at the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization. "One weak link can lead to a domino effect, undoing all the good that we have achieved so far. Now is no time for complacency."

Several regions remain particularly vulnerable because of a shortfall in donor funding, the FAO said. However, the agency said its investment in national and regional plans to prepare for a possible outbreak is paying off in unaffected parts of the world like Latin America and the Caribbean.

The agency also stressed the need for greater transparency and the sharing of information, especially regarding virus strains.