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UN Bird Flu Chief Calls For More Cash To Combat Virus
Today 12/7/2006 10:00:00 AM
BAMAKO, Mali (AP)--The U.N. bird flu chief called on donors Thursday to pledge at least half a billion dollars annually over the next three years to combat the H5N1 virus and prepare for the possibility it could mutate into a form that would ignite a human flu pandemic.
Though the H5N1 strain?s march around the world has slowed in recent months, U.N. influenza coordinator David Nabarro warned outbreaks could spike again as migratory birds depart the wintery northern hemisphere for warmer climes to the south.
?Despite the investment that has been made in upgrading animal husbandry and trying to improve animal services, the need to be vigilant and respond to outbreaks is very much there,? Nabarro told The Associated Press in an interview. ?During the next few months we could see once again a dramatic movement of the virus into more locations as a result of trade and bird migration.?
The number of recorded annual infections and human fatalities has grown every year since H5N1 first began widely infecting poultry in Asia in 2003. The disease has spread to Europe, the Middle East and Africa and killed at least 154 people around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
There is no way to predict whether the virus will spread further or mutate into a much deadlier form that could be transmitted easily between humans. But Nabarro said governments must prepare for both eventualities.
In January, international donors pledged $1.9 billion - half in donations, half in loans - and the majority has been dispersed, U.N. officials say.
Nabarro said between half a billion to a billion dollars would be needed annually over the next several years to fight the disease, strengthen weak health and veterinary systems in places like Africa and boost stockpiles of medicines and vaccines.
?The amount we?re requesting would be dwarfed by the potential cost of a pandemic, which when it comes will be in the trillions of dollars.?
Hundreds of health experts and government representatives from around the globe are in Mali?s capital, Bamako, for the first major bird flu conference on the continent. The meeting began Wednesday and ends Friday with a donor conference.
Nabarro said the bird-flu crisis was still much more acute in Asia, but a major outbreak in Africa would be ?much more calamitous because the health and veterinary infrastructure here is so weak.?
Eight African nations have reported the presence of the H5N1 virus since February, when it was first discovered on the continent on a Nigerian farm. Human fatalities have been recorded in Egypt and Djibouti.
Today 12/7/2006 10:00:00 AM
BAMAKO, Mali (AP)--The U.N. bird flu chief called on donors Thursday to pledge at least half a billion dollars annually over the next three years to combat the H5N1 virus and prepare for the possibility it could mutate into a form that would ignite a human flu pandemic.
Though the H5N1 strain?s march around the world has slowed in recent months, U.N. influenza coordinator David Nabarro warned outbreaks could spike again as migratory birds depart the wintery northern hemisphere for warmer climes to the south.
?Despite the investment that has been made in upgrading animal husbandry and trying to improve animal services, the need to be vigilant and respond to outbreaks is very much there,? Nabarro told The Associated Press in an interview. ?During the next few months we could see once again a dramatic movement of the virus into more locations as a result of trade and bird migration.?
The number of recorded annual infections and human fatalities has grown every year since H5N1 first began widely infecting poultry in Asia in 2003. The disease has spread to Europe, the Middle East and Africa and killed at least 154 people around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
There is no way to predict whether the virus will spread further or mutate into a much deadlier form that could be transmitted easily between humans. But Nabarro said governments must prepare for both eventualities.
In January, international donors pledged $1.9 billion - half in donations, half in loans - and the majority has been dispersed, U.N. officials say.
Nabarro said between half a billion to a billion dollars would be needed annually over the next several years to fight the disease, strengthen weak health and veterinary systems in places like Africa and boost stockpiles of medicines and vaccines.
?The amount we?re requesting would be dwarfed by the potential cost of a pandemic, which when it comes will be in the trillions of dollars.?
Hundreds of health experts and government representatives from around the globe are in Mali?s capital, Bamako, for the first major bird flu conference on the continent. The meeting began Wednesday and ends Friday with a donor conference.
Nabarro said the bird-flu crisis was still much more acute in Asia, but a major outbreak in Africa would be ?much more calamitous because the health and veterinary infrastructure here is so weak.?
Eight African nations have reported the presence of the H5N1 virus since February, when it was first discovered on the continent on a Nigerian farm. Human fatalities have been recorded in Egypt and Djibouti.
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