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WAITING FOR THE PANDEMIC OF AVIAN INFLUENZA
Translation of the article “En attendant une pandémie de grippe”)
July 7, 2006 (La Libre Belgique)
The presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed in Spain, the 14th country to be infected. The European Union prepares for a pandemic of human influenza.
If the avian flu isn’t being talked much about these days as it was last February or March, when the crisis was at its highest, it hasn’t disappeared and the virus is still there. Last Friday, a case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus was confirmed on a bird [grebe huppé] in the Spanish Basque Country [Spain], bringing to 14 the number of States of the European Union to be infected so far.
“It is very probable that the infections will start again”, estimates Zsuzsanna Jakab, director of the European Center for prevention and disease control [ECDC]. Today, we are far from the 278 cases notified in March, but “we now know that the migratory period is a risk factor. We will be extremely cautious" this fall, promises Robert Madelin, general director in charge of Health and Consumer protection at the European Commission.
Although the virus appears to be “very little adapted to human”, insists Mrs Jakab, “each cluster of H5N1 is a possibility for human infection. Each new case of infection raises the risk that the virus will mutate to create a pandemic”. Some 130 people have died so far around the world, according to the World Health Organization. “No case of human influenza was detected in the European Union, but vigilance is essential”, thus indicates Mr. Madelin.
Slightly negligent
Indeed, the experts forecast a new pandemic in the years to come, after the Spanish influenza which killed between 20 and 40 million people in 1918, the Asian flu (1957) and the Hong Kong influenza (1968), which killed each between 1 to 4 million humans. “These last years, we've been perhaps a bit negligent”, recognizes Mr. Madelin, before ensuring that the European Union is now seriously preparing to the threat of a pandemic by the installing an early alarm system. Thus, “we will be able to save lives and much more”, ensures Mrs Jakab.
But actions must be carried throughtout the European Union territory. To begin with, at a local level. “If doctors and hospitals are in the black, having national plans will serve nothing”, indicates Mrs Jakab, adding that the seasonal influenza kills “thousands of Europeans every year” and that the goal planned for 2008 to vaccinate 50% of citizen aged 65 years and up is far from being achieved.
Then, actions should be undertaken, proceeding by sectors and at a socio-economical level. It goes without saying that no sector, from transports to services, will not be “saved” and that a pandemic would weigh on growth.
Finally, from a communication point of view, “Management of the tsunami crisis was badly done” in this respect, recognizes Claus Sorensen, general director in charge of Communications at the European Union, and “we must draw conclusions from there”. “At the beginning of a crisis, it is important to stabilize messages, to make them coherent and pertinent.” Because “bad information is not without a cost”. For instance, the drop of poultry sales at the peak of the avian flu crisis and the gaps in popular knowledge are a consequence of “bad communication”. According to a study [Eurobaromètre] published on Friday, 28% of Europeans think that the H5N1 virus can be transmitted by cooked meat, 29% say that to eat vaccinated chicken presents a risk and 46% believe that authorities hide them information. “Human psychism is very apprehensive” and thus “it is necessary to be able to manage bad perceptions”.
But the preparation of the European Union is not ideal, since State Members, slowed down by Sweden and the Netherlands in particular, did not manage to get along on a common agreement of management of stocks of vaccines, which would not allow to stop a pandemic but at least would permit to gain some time.
Automatic translation adaptation (from French to English)
Source: www.lalibre.be/article.phtml?id=10&subid=91&art_id=295853
The original French version of this article is posted in the Francophone section of FluTrackers: www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=20964#post20964
WAITING FOR THE PANDEMIC OF AVIAN INFLUENZA
Translation of the article “En attendant une pandémie de grippe”)
July 7, 2006 (La Libre Belgique)
The presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed in Spain, the 14th country to be infected. The European Union prepares for a pandemic of human influenza.
If the avian flu isn’t being talked much about these days as it was last February or March, when the crisis was at its highest, it hasn’t disappeared and the virus is still there. Last Friday, a case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus was confirmed on a bird [grebe huppé] in the Spanish Basque Country [Spain], bringing to 14 the number of States of the European Union to be infected so far.
“It is very probable that the infections will start again”, estimates Zsuzsanna Jakab, director of the European Center for prevention and disease control [ECDC]. Today, we are far from the 278 cases notified in March, but “we now know that the migratory period is a risk factor. We will be extremely cautious" this fall, promises Robert Madelin, general director in charge of Health and Consumer protection at the European Commission.
Although the virus appears to be “very little adapted to human”, insists Mrs Jakab, “each cluster of H5N1 is a possibility for human infection. Each new case of infection raises the risk that the virus will mutate to create a pandemic”. Some 130 people have died so far around the world, according to the World Health Organization. “No case of human influenza was detected in the European Union, but vigilance is essential”, thus indicates Mr. Madelin.
Slightly negligent
Indeed, the experts forecast a new pandemic in the years to come, after the Spanish influenza which killed between 20 and 40 million people in 1918, the Asian flu (1957) and the Hong Kong influenza (1968), which killed each between 1 to 4 million humans. “These last years, we've been perhaps a bit negligent”, recognizes Mr. Madelin, before ensuring that the European Union is now seriously preparing to the threat of a pandemic by the installing an early alarm system. Thus, “we will be able to save lives and much more”, ensures Mrs Jakab.
But actions must be carried throughtout the European Union territory. To begin with, at a local level. “If doctors and hospitals are in the black, having national plans will serve nothing”, indicates Mrs Jakab, adding that the seasonal influenza kills “thousands of Europeans every year” and that the goal planned for 2008 to vaccinate 50% of citizen aged 65 years and up is far from being achieved.
Then, actions should be undertaken, proceeding by sectors and at a socio-economical level. It goes without saying that no sector, from transports to services, will not be “saved” and that a pandemic would weigh on growth.
Finally, from a communication point of view, “Management of the tsunami crisis was badly done” in this respect, recognizes Claus Sorensen, general director in charge of Communications at the European Union, and “we must draw conclusions from there”. “At the beginning of a crisis, it is important to stabilize messages, to make them coherent and pertinent.” Because “bad information is not without a cost”. For instance, the drop of poultry sales at the peak of the avian flu crisis and the gaps in popular knowledge are a consequence of “bad communication”. According to a study [Eurobaromètre] published on Friday, 28% of Europeans think that the H5N1 virus can be transmitted by cooked meat, 29% say that to eat vaccinated chicken presents a risk and 46% believe that authorities hide them information. “Human psychism is very apprehensive” and thus “it is necessary to be able to manage bad perceptions”.
But the preparation of the European Union is not ideal, since State Members, slowed down by Sweden and the Netherlands in particular, did not manage to get along on a common agreement of management of stocks of vaccines, which would not allow to stop a pandemic but at least would permit to gain some time.
Automatic translation adaptation (from French to English)
Source: www.lalibre.be/article.phtml?id=10&subid=91&art_id=295853
The original French version of this article is posted in the Francophone section of FluTrackers: www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=20964#post20964