Global IssuesHEALTH-ASIA: Harried by Sporadic Bird Flu Outbreaks
New cases of avian influenza across Asia in recent weeks confirm warnings that the deadly virus still lurks in the region and raise questions of gaps in efforts to contain it in affected communities.
For now, the only comfort is the speed at which the cases are being reported for local authorities to respond, say experts. Tightening of the information flow from farms and chicken coops to veterinary officials was part of the programme implemented in the region since there was a major outbreak of bird flu in the winter of 2003.
Hong Kong is grappling with an outbreak of the H5N1 virus that struck chickens last week. The infected poultry, kept in a farm equipped with modern biosecurity measures, resulted in the culling of close to 80,000 chickens in nearby farms and even at a large market known for its wholesale trade of the birds.
Chinese authorities also confirmed this week that the virus has been reported in the eastern province of Jiangsu, resulting in the culling of over 350,000 chickens. In addition, local authorities have increased vaccinating poultry in local farms, state media reports.
Cambodia has turned its attention to infected chickens and ducks in an area south of Phnom Penh, the capital. Authorities have ordered poultry to be slaughtered in the infected smallholder farms, in addition to imposing a 30-day ban on the selling and transport of poultry to the Kandal province.
Cambodian authorities confirmed that a 19-year-old man from Kandal has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, the local media reported. He is the first person reported to have contracted the virus and the eighth Cambodian diagnosed with avian influenza since it struck one of South-east Asia’s poorest countries.
Last week, authorities in India’s West Bengal state announced the sealing of large sections of its border with Bangladesh after tests confirmed a new outbreak in Malda district, through which ducks and chickens are regularly smuggled in.
Outbreaks were reported, last month, from two other Indian states that shares borders with Bangladesh -- Assam and Meghalaya.
Although no recent outbreaks have been reported from Bangladesh, that impoverished country was the victim of a major epidemic in 2007 when millions of birds were culled.
‘’Our analysis shows that this season is when we will get cases of avian influenza,’’ says Subash Morzaria, regional manger of the Bangkok-based emergency centre for trans-boundary animal diseases at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). ‘’Countries have to be prepared for bird flu outbreaks during the winter season.’’
The latest outbreaks follow a pattern that began in 2003 are still linked to causes that were singled out five years ago. ‘’The main reasons are still because of poor bio-security and the movement of birds due to trade,’’ Morzaria told IPS. ‘’Bio-security is still not adequate in some communities despite the high awareness for its need.’’
Such measures seek to keep poultry in a confined environment to limit contact with wild birds. Bigger farms have implemented bio-security measures on an industrial scale, where workers have to be sprayed with disinfectant and must also shower, shampoo and wear protective clothing before going into the long, low-rise sheds covered with black fabric where the poultry are raised.
Yet even such controlled environments failed to prevent the recent outbreaks in Hong Kong. It has also raised concerns about the vaccines being used to inoculate poultry from the H5N1 virus.
‘’The vaccine failure is something that they are investigating in Hong Kong,’’ says FAO’s Morzaria. ‘’Vaccines are a very important control option if delivered properly and at the right time.’’
The U.N. food agency sees better success in its awareness campaigns aimed at getting rural and urban communities to raise the alarm and secure prompt responses when there is an outbreak. ‘’We are getting more reports than before, and they are reporting it fairly early,’’ says Morzaria. ‘’The training at grassroots levels has contributed to this change.’’
The success of the international efforts to contain avian influenza is reflected in the number of countries that have managed to eliminate it, stated a global study released in October. ‘’The success of the control efforts (has been) reflected in the fact that 50 of the 63 countries affected by the virus have managed to eliminate it.’’
That is an improvement from December 2005, when an assessment was made at a major international meeting held in Beijing, added the global study, published by the World Bank, the FAO and the World Health Organisation (WHO), among other agencies. ‘’It was recognised that the world was unprepared for the rapid spread of the virus.’’
‘’H5N1 has already cost over 20 billion US dollars in economic losses,’’ the study revealed of the virus that began in China in the winter of 2003 and spread across South-east Asia and thereafter to Europe and Africa.
According to the WHO, 247 people have died from this strain of the virus out of 391 people infected since 2003. Indonesia tops the list of fatalities, with 113 deaths out of 139 confirmed cases, followed by Vietnam, with 52 deaths out of 106 confirmed cases.
Public health and animal health experts have been monitoring the virus to study signs of mutation, given concerns that if H5N1 acquires the capability to be passed between humans, it could result in a global pandemic, killing close to 180 million, according to some estimates.
Such projections are based on the 1918 Spanish Flu, which claimed 50 million human lives after a bird flu strain crossed over into the human population.
Indonesia’s lead has become central in the global efforts. Jakarta announced this week that intensive measures to curb the H5N1 virus between 2009 and 2011 will lay the foundation for the set goal of eradicating the virus by 2014.
‘’If all goes well, the nation will be free of the highly pathogenic bird flu virus by 2014,’’ Tjeppy D. Soedjana, a ranking official at Indonesia’s agriculture ministry, was quoted as having told the ‘Jakarta Post’ newspaper.
© Inter Press Service (2008) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service