Home>index
       
 

WHO: Bird flu may dwarf SARS woes
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-01-15 11:02

The bird flu that has raced through chicken farms in Asia and killed at least 12 people in Viet Nam could become a bigger problem for the region than SARS, the World Health Organization said yesterday.


A 15-month-old baby girl breathes with assistance during her treatment for the avian influenza strain A in an Hanoi hospital January 14, 2004. Viet Nam on Wednesday reported two more suspected bird flu cases,the baby girl and a man, and up to 12 Vietnamese died from 'bird flu.' Health officials said pigs could be possible carriers of the illness. [Reuters]
The bird flu's symptoms in humans include fever and coughing and eventual pneumonia - similar to SARS.

The avian flu has killed millions of chickens in Viet Nam, South Korea and Japan, where officials have ordered mass culls to try to contain the outbreak. Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Thailand have all banned poultry imports from countries affected by the bird flu.

WHO says tests are being conducted to determine if the deaths of six additional children in Viet Nam are linked to the disease. It has stressed that there has been no person-to-person spread of the disease. Health officials attribute infections in humans to contact with the feces of sick birds.

If the virus develops the ability to spread through human contact, it could become a big health crisis, WHO regional coordinator Peter Cordingley said Wednesday in Manila, Philippines.

It's "a bigger potential problem than SARS because we don't have any defenses against the disease," Cordingley said. "If it latches on to a human influenza virus, then it could cause serious international damage."

Alan Hay, director of the London-based World Influenza Center, agreed that the virus could become more potent if mixed with a human virus, but added "we know relatively little about what is actually necessary if that happens."

The bird flu scare comes just as China grapples with new cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, another ailment believed to have originated in animals and which ravaged the region's economy in a major outbreak last year.

China last week confirmed its first SARS case of the season, and has since announced two additional suspected cases, all in southern Guangdong province.

The avian flu deaths in Viet Nam, an adult and two children, were confirmed on Tuesday as Influenza A or the H5N1 strain, the same virus found in sick chickens in the country's south, WHO said.

The same strain of bird flu killed six people in Hong Kong in 1997, when more than 1 million chickens and ducks were culled.


A Vietnamese man transports chickens at a market in Ho Chi Minh City January 14, 2004. [Reuters]
Health officials say they believe there is no danger from eating properly cooked meat or the eggs of affected chickens. However, they are not 100 per cent about it.

Japanese officials said 10,000 chickens had died from the bird flu and thousands of others would be slaughtered.

The disease is spreading fast among poultry in Viet Nam, where more than 1 million chickens have died in the latest outbreak. Farmers have been ordered to destroy all sick birds.

Thailand, among the world's largest poultry exporters, declared itself free of bird flu, despite thousands of poultry deaths in the country. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Wednesday local chickens are dying of less dangerous and more controllable diseases, but not the fatal H5N1 strain .

Still, Singapore announced it was suspending some of its chicken imports from Thailand.

 
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Central bank denies rumors of RMB revaluation

 

   
 

Policies to boost farmers' income

 

   
 

State inspections tighten flu stranglehold

 

   
 

Bush: 'I expected to find the weapons'

 

   
 

Beauty comes at a price and risk

 

   
  Official sacked for accidents
   
  Greener pastures ahead for farmers
   
  State inspections tighten flu stranglehold
   
  Panda Hua Mei, 4, says 'So long, sunny San Diego'
   
  Beauty comes at a price and risk
   
  Police search for fatal radioactive substance lost in Shaanxi
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  'Our life is bloody hard here'  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 色黄网站成年女人色毛片| fc2成年免费共享视频18| 桃花影院www视频播放| 人人妻人人做人人爽| 美女一级毛片免费观看| 国产午夜a理论毛片在线影院| **字幕特级毛片| 在线精品一区二区三区电影| √天堂资源地址在线官网| 成年人免费小视频| 久久久精品久久久久久96| 日韩高清特级特黄毛片| 亚洲人成亚洲人成在线观看| 毛片高清视频在线看免费观看| 免费成人激情视频| 美女扒开大腿让男人桶| 国产三级在线观看完整版| 高潮内射免费看片| 国产成人精品高清免费| www.亚洲日本| 国产精品国产欧美综合一区| 91在线品视觉盛宴免费| 在线免费看片a| 99精品偷自拍| 学长在下面撞我写着作业l| 中国熟女仑乱hd| 手机看片福利久久| 久久99国产精品尤物| 日本三级韩国三级美三级91| 久久人爽人人爽人人片av| 日韩不卡高清视频| 久久青草免费91观看| 最近中文字幕免费高清mv| 亚洲乱码一二三四区乱码| 欧美亚洲国产精品久久高清| 亚洲国产中文在线视频| 欧美成人家庭影院| 亚洲国产精品久久久久秋霞小| 欧美日韩一区二区三| 亚洲国产精品综合久久网络| 欧美电影院一区二区三区|