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Asia-Pacific passes bird flu pandemic test, Australia says
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Asia-Pacific passes bird flu pandemic test, Australia says
Weekend ? June 10, 2006
Australian officials praised as creative the responses of Asian and Pacific countries to a hypothetical bird flu pandemic which included discouraging kissing and building a factory to make protective masks.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said this week's exercise involving the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries was completed successfully.
The scenario tested involved a new strain of bird flu, dubbed the 'Malacca Straits Flu', reaching pandemic proportions within the region after several infected fishermen were rescued by a passing cruise ship.
"The scenario successfully achieved the goal of testing communication responses during the exercise, which lasted 26 hours across eight time zones," the ministers said in a statement.
The exercise, which began in New Zealand on Wednesday and concluded on Thursday with calls to the United States, was designed to test communication links between APEC members.
"The exercise attracted credible responses," Downer and Ruddock said.
"Some of the more creative responses included one offering to immediately build a factory to supply the region with more protective masks and another (member) whose suggested advice to its citizens included to 'Stop kissing and to eat more vegetables.'"
Neil Head, of Emergency Management Australia which coordinated the exercise, said that despite some glitches, the exercise proceeded smoothly.
The main problems were human factors, such as a death in the family of a key official in one case, and the fact that at least one participant was concurrently dealing with a real outbreak of bird flu.
Head said the level of cooperation was encouraging.
"The pandemic threat is remarkable because it's almost entirely preventable," he told AFP.
"The things that make it preventable are early detection, close cooperation and information sharing, and the rapid sourcing and the development of appropriate antibodies and medicines.
"The fact that these (countries) seem willing to do all these things we would have to say is a very positive outcome."
The results of the exercise will be presented at an APEC ministers and leaders conference in Singapore in November.
More than 120 people have died from bird flu since late 2003, most of them in Asia, and world health officials fear that H5N1 virus could mutate into one spread via human-to-human contact.
APEC includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. ? AFP
Asia-Pacific passes bird flu pandemic test, Australia says
Weekend ? June 10, 2006
Australian officials praised as creative the responses of Asian and Pacific countries to a hypothetical bird flu pandemic which included discouraging kissing and building a factory to make protective masks.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said this week's exercise involving the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries was completed successfully.
The scenario tested involved a new strain of bird flu, dubbed the 'Malacca Straits Flu', reaching pandemic proportions within the region after several infected fishermen were rescued by a passing cruise ship.
"The scenario successfully achieved the goal of testing communication responses during the exercise, which lasted 26 hours across eight time zones," the ministers said in a statement.
The exercise, which began in New Zealand on Wednesday and concluded on Thursday with calls to the United States, was designed to test communication links between APEC members.
"The exercise attracted credible responses," Downer and Ruddock said.
"Some of the more creative responses included one offering to immediately build a factory to supply the region with more protective masks and another (member) whose suggested advice to its citizens included to 'Stop kissing and to eat more vegetables.'"
Neil Head, of Emergency Management Australia which coordinated the exercise, said that despite some glitches, the exercise proceeded smoothly.
The main problems were human factors, such as a death in the family of a key official in one case, and the fact that at least one participant was concurrently dealing with a real outbreak of bird flu.
Head said the level of cooperation was encouraging.
"The pandemic threat is remarkable because it's almost entirely preventable," he told AFP.
"The things that make it preventable are early detection, close cooperation and information sharing, and the rapid sourcing and the development of appropriate antibodies and medicines.
"The fact that these (countries) seem willing to do all these things we would have to say is a very positive outcome."
The results of the exercise will be presented at an APEC ministers and leaders conference in Singapore in November.
More than 120 people have died from bird flu since late 2003, most of them in Asia, and world health officials fear that H5N1 virus could mutate into one spread via human-to-human contact.
APEC includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. ? AFP
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