.contact us |.about us

Highlights ... ...
Search:
    Advertisement
WHO warns against creating bird flu panic
( 2004-02-05 11:26) (Agencies)

The United Nations health agency sought Tuesday to dampen fears of bird flu striking large numbers of people, even as the death toll in Asia climbed to 13.

A 7-year-old boy became the fourth person to die from the disease in Thailand. Vietnam has reported nine fatalities.

"I think it's very important at this stage that we remain calm about worst-case scenarios," said Mike Ryan, head of the global epidemic response network at the World Health Organization. "What we're dealing with at the moment is small clusters of cases associated with exposure to poultry."

"We have a strain of influenza with the potential to pick up human genes, and we're nowhere close to declaring a pandemic," Ryan told reporters.

Asia's bird flu crisis topped the agenda at a three-day emergency meeting beginning Tuesday at the headquarters of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. Experts hope to work out strategies for tackling the outbreak and preventing future one.

Joseph Domenech, chief of the FAO animal health department, addressed the concern the virus could mutate.

"Today we are not at this stage, but until now the veterinary, the animal outbreaks, are multiplying. It's still an increasing curve, so if it continues that way, the risks are still more and more important," he said.

Ten Asian countries and regions are battling bird flu, also known as avian influenza, and at least 45 million chickens have been slaughtered across the region to stop its spread. Cases in humans have been reported only in Vietnam and Thailand, with most traced to direct contact with sick birds.

Fears the disease had spread to Europe subsided after doctors said a German tourist who came down with flu-like symptoms after visiting Thailand was most likely free of the disease.

Investigators have been unable to trace the infections of two Vietnamese women to contact with chickens and have not ruled out human-to-human transmission. But even if the women did catch the disease from a family member, limited transmission of the virus between people is not the real danger.

What experts fear most is the virus mutating into a form that passes easily between people — a pandemic strain that is a hybrid of the bird virus and a normal human influenza variety.

"What we're saying is that we're not dealing with an imminent threat to public health, but we are dealing with a potential threat to public health," Ryan said.

The other places battling the disease are Chinese mainland, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, China's Taiwan and South Korea. However, health officials say the strain of bird flu striking Taiwan and Pakistan is milder and is not considered a serious threat to humans.

Ryan, who steered WHO's response to last year's SARS epidemic in Asia and Canada, said authorities worldwide must keep bird flu under close surveillance.

"This latest avian influenza outbreak sends another shot across the bows, another warning to us that we must be ready in the event of the emergence of a pandemic strain," he said. "While we're watching, we've got to be preparing."

WHO has sent teams to the region and to the meeting in Rome. At least 25 international experts from 15 countries were attending that meeting, including high-level veterinary officials from affected nations and representatives of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials say destroying infected birds, if safely carried out, is the best way to contain the disease, but the mass slaughter and import bans have ravaged Asia's poultry industry.

WHO officials have said people who eat poultry are not at risk from bird flu but that import restrictions on live birds are needed to halt the spread of the disease among farm flocks.

The European Union and Japan have both barred poultry products from Thailand, with the EU extending its ban Tuesday for another six months. The extension also applies to a ban on pet birds from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, China, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Asian tourism has begun to suffer, although WHO has not issued any travel warnings as it did during the SARS outbreak.

WHO also is spearheading the hunt for a bird flu vaccine. Ryan said prototypes developed by the agency will shortly be supplied to pharmaceutical companies so they can begin research on a useable vaccine, which experts expect to be ready within months.

"This is something that is very achievable, this is not some brave new world," Ryan said. "Giving a worst-case scenario without taking into account our possibility to intervene successfully (with a vaccine) I think at this point would be scaremongering."

   
Close  
  Go to Another Section  
     
 
 
     
  Article Tools  
     
  E-Mail This Article
Print Friendly Format
 
     
   
        .contact us |.about us
  Copyright By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved  
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产大秀视频在线一区二区| 天天躁日日躁狠狠躁av麻豆| 亚洲乱妇老熟女爽到高潮的片| 99国产欧美另类久久久精品| 无码天堂va亚洲va在线va| 亚洲aⅴ男人的天堂在线观看| 美女免费网站xx美女女女女女女bbbbbb毛片| 国产黄在线观看免费观看不卡| 一级黄色免费毛片| 欧美一级爽快片淫片高清在线观看| 四虎国产成人永久精品免费 | 不卡无码人妻一区三区音频| 日本免费a视频| 亚洲欧美日韩精品在线| 精品一区二区三区在线播放视频| 国产欧美曰韩一区二区三区| xxxxx日韩| 最新69成人精品毛片| 免费网站看v片在线a| 国产探花在线视频| 夜色福利久久久久久777777| 一本色道久久综合狠狠躁篇| 日韩高清在线高清免费| 亚洲国产精品无码久久青草| 精品在线视频一区| 国产成人精品综合在线观看| 1000部无遮挡拍拍拍免费视频观看 | 国产精品国产三级国产AV主播| 91精品国产高清久久久久久| 在线综合亚洲欧美网站天堂| 久久久久久久久亚洲| 欧美精品va在线观看| 人人妻人人澡人人爽欧美精品| 男男动漫全程肉无删减彩漫| 国产亚洲婷婷香蕉久久精品| 黄色a级片免费看| 国产麻豆精品在线观看| aaa日本高清在线播放免费观看| 无码国产乱人伦偷精品视频| 久久婷婷五月综合色欧美| 青青网在线视频|