January 26, 2004

Taiwan Bird Flu No Threat To Human Health

The H5N2 strain of the bird flu virus found in Taiwan is a weaker pathogen and thereby poses no threat to public health, the head of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) global influenza program said in Geneva. 

Klaus Stohr said that as bird flu, which has been transmitted from poultry to humans, is not transmitted from person to person, the WHO is currently not contemplating issuing travel advisories against regions where bird flu has appeared recently.

However, he said there is a possibility that the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus which has recently been found in Vietnam, Japan and South Korea, could potentially swap genes with the influenza virus and mutate into a more dangerous strain which can be transmitted between humans.

The WHO urged countries in which bird flu has recently appeared to cull their poultry populations to prevent a spread of the disease.

The Office International des Epizooties, a world organization for animal health, also mentioned in a press release Friday that the H5N2 strain of the avian flu virus found in Taiwan is weaker, and recommended that all poultry be thoroughly cooked prior to being eaten as cooking can kill any H5N2 virus that might be present in the meat.

Stohr said the WHO is expected to hand prototype bird flu virus samples to laboratories within four weeks for the development of vaccines which he said will take at least six months. That means the first vaccine against the disease might be available after seven months at the earliest.