September 18, 2010

Bird flu still a threat in Cambodia

Cambodia has been identified as one of the nine countries still at risk of "sporadic" outbreaks of bird flu, according to a joint United Nations-World Bank report.

Bird flu is entrenched in domestic poultry in parts of Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia and Vietnam, the report said, and other countries, including Cambodia continued to be affected sporadically.

The 2010 Global Progress Report on Animal and Pandemic Influenza, launched in Washington on Wednesday (Sep 15), called the international response to bird flu an "intensive and generally successful effort."

But it said the virus had continued to circulate and urged "continued vigilance and investments" to prepare for future pandemic diseases.

Dr Nima Asgari, a public health specialist at the World Health Organisation, said Cambodia had managed recent pandemics well but warned of the dangers of a larger outbreak.

"There is enough coordination to deal with the current pandemic. But if the pandemic is more severe, we really have to make sure that coordination is in place," said Dr Asgari.

Sourn San, director of the Animal Health Research Institute at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said the Kingdom had taken widespread steps to protect against cross-border infection from neighbouring countries such as Vietnam, identified by the report as a hotspot for bird flu.

He said the ministry banned imports of poultry from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar in 2004.

The ban remains in effect, though illegal imports – about 500,000 eggs and seven tonnes of poultry annually, according to estimates from the Cambodian Chicken Raisers' Association – could still pose a threat.