Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
'Massive intervention' needed in bird flu fight
"We need massive intervention. We are not talking about UN blue helmets, more to do with scientific expertise and funds to get bird flu under control in Indonesia," the World Organisation for Animal Health's Maria Zambaglione said from Paris.
"Indonesia is a peculiar situation because of its geography, it makes it easier for bird flu to spread. Weak veterinary services also make it difficult to deal with the situation. If there is is any country that fails to get bird flu under control then the entire planet is at risk."
Echoed
The call for intervention was echoed by the World Health Organisation.
"We agree there is a need for massive intervention. International expertise must be utilised to help Indonesia,'' Maria Cheng of WHO said from Geneva.
The virus has infected poultry populations in 27 of the 33 Indonesian provinces, including easternmost Papua and the resort island of Bali.
The government has been criticised for refusing to carry out mass bird slaughters in infected areas.
The comments came in the wake of growing fears that avian influenza may have mutated into a easily transmissible form among humans.
"We have seen these types of transmission before in Thailand and Vietnam and China where people living in close contact with an infected person have themselves become ill with bird flu without coming into contact with poultry," Cheng said.
"It is possible it is happening in Indonesia, we do not have any confirmation right now. But it is possible."
Health officials in Indonesia are still struggling to track down the source of a worrying family cluster of infections as tests showed that two more people have died of the disease.
One of the latest victims belonged to a Sumatran family, which lost several members earlier this month to bird flu, sparking fears of human-to-human transmission.
An Indonesian health official was unable to rule out human-to-human transmission.
I Nyoman Kandun, director for the Indonesian health ministry's communicable disease control centre, said an epidemiological investigation into a cluster of seven fatal cases in Sumatra, which health experts feared might be Indonesia's first case of human-to-human transmission of the deadly virus, was inconclusive.
"We cannot confirm that [human-to-human transmission] has occurred but we cannot rule it out," Kandun told reporters.
"The good news is there is not yet any mutation, [or] any reassortment of the virus" Kandun said.
He added that Indonesian officials were being assisted by the WHO, and the Centres for Disease Control.
Test results from the WHO last week confirmed that the five family members had all contracted the H5N1 virus, bringing Indonesia's bird flu death toll to 32.
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Indonesia/10041821.html
By Tom Clifford, Assistant Editor - International
Dubai: "Massive intervention" is needed to stabilise the bird flu situation in Indonesia, according to the two main bodies trying to contain the disease."We need massive intervention. We are not talking about UN blue helmets, more to do with scientific expertise and funds to get bird flu under control in Indonesia," the World Organisation for Animal Health's Maria Zambaglione said from Paris.
"Indonesia is a peculiar situation because of its geography, it makes it easier for bird flu to spread. Weak veterinary services also make it difficult to deal with the situation. If there is is any country that fails to get bird flu under control then the entire planet is at risk."
Echoed
The call for intervention was echoed by the World Health Organisation.
"We agree there is a need for massive intervention. International expertise must be utilised to help Indonesia,'' Maria Cheng of WHO said from Geneva.
The virus has infected poultry populations in 27 of the 33 Indonesian provinces, including easternmost Papua and the resort island of Bali.
The government has been criticised for refusing to carry out mass bird slaughters in infected areas.
The comments came in the wake of growing fears that avian influenza may have mutated into a easily transmissible form among humans.
"We have seen these types of transmission before in Thailand and Vietnam and China where people living in close contact with an infected person have themselves become ill with bird flu without coming into contact with poultry," Cheng said.
"It is possible it is happening in Indonesia, we do not have any confirmation right now. But it is possible."
Health officials in Indonesia are still struggling to track down the source of a worrying family cluster of infections as tests showed that two more people have died of the disease.
One of the latest victims belonged to a Sumatran family, which lost several members earlier this month to bird flu, sparking fears of human-to-human transmission.
An Indonesian health official was unable to rule out human-to-human transmission.
I Nyoman Kandun, director for the Indonesian health ministry's communicable disease control centre, said an epidemiological investigation into a cluster of seven fatal cases in Sumatra, which health experts feared might be Indonesia's first case of human-to-human transmission of the deadly virus, was inconclusive.
"We cannot confirm that [human-to-human transmission] has occurred but we cannot rule it out," Kandun told reporters.
"The good news is there is not yet any mutation, [or] any reassortment of the virus" Kandun said.
He added that Indonesian officials were being assisted by the WHO, and the Centres for Disease Control.
Test results from the WHO last week confirmed that the five family members had all contracted the H5N1 virus, bringing Indonesia's bird flu death toll to 32.
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Indonesia/10041821.html