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WHO urges sharing of bird flu case samples
By Zhang Feng (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-20 09:37
SHANGHAI: A senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO) urged all
countries in the western Pacific region to share samples of poultry and human
avian influenza cases for scientific research in order to prevent a possible
global pandemic.
"We have urged epidemic countries to share their samples in poultry and human
cases, because the virus is always changing, which means timely exchange is
quite necessary," said Shigeru Omi, director of the WHO's Regional Office for
the Western Pacific.
All member states in the region have actively responded to the WHO's call and
vowed to strengthen exchanges and co-operation in the field, said Omi, who is
now in Shanghai for the 55th session of the WHO Western Pacific Regional
Committee which ends over the weekend.
Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, has already wreaked havoc in the
region with 39 human cases including 28 fatalities in Viet Nam and Thailand.
Three human cases of avian influenza were reported last month in Viet Nam.
Several new suspected cases have also been reported last week in Thailand and
Malaysia.
China reported bird flu among chickens in early July in East China's Anhui
Province, but no human cases have been reported.
Research is an important way to tackle the disease, about which much remains
unclear, including the nature of the virus and how it is transmitted to humans,
Omi said.
Scientists still do not know how the patients in Viet Nam got infected with
bird flu as they had no contact with poultry.
Omi warned that the possibility always exists for the virus to spread from
region to region, country to country, chickens to humans, and even from humans
to humans because the virus is continuing to circulate and people still know
little about it.
The WHO regional office has sent an expert group to Viet Nam to investigate
the three human cases, said Peter Cordingley, spokesman for Western Pacific
Regional office of the WHO.
The WHO still has no plan to establish a new special expert group to tackle
the disease or go to other countries for investigations.
Omi stressed that the avian influenza virus might also be carried by other
animals, such as dogs and even horses which might also transmit the virus to
humans.
"We all know that the effective way to control the virus is to slaughter sick
poultry, but we can not kill all the animals which might carry the virus. This
means we must strengthen animal husbandry," Omi added.
It is important to get farmers to raise their poultry separately and
scientifically, especially in the rural areas of many countries in the
Asia-Pacific region.
Moreover, all countries and people, especially those who have close contact
with poultry, must make effective preparations to prevent every possible
outbreak of avian influenza.
Authorities must make tireless efforts to strengthen capacity building, such
as developing prevention and quick response systems and surveillance and
reporting systems, to educate people on how to protect themselves, and to
conduct more co-ordination between different departments including agriculture,
health and science.
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