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Serbian Government's Plan of Action Against Avian Flu Pandemic Detailed

Posted on: Monday, 10 October 2005, 12:00 CDT

Excerpt from report by S. Todorovic and J. Subotic entitled "In readiness 3m vaccines" published by the by Serbian newspaper Blic on 7 October - subheadings as published

At its session yesterday [6 October], the Serbian government approved an action plan for all competent institutions in case of an outbreak of avian flu. The plan envisages stocking up on vaccines, antibiotics and antiviral medicine necessary for fighting avian flu; allotting responsibilities; and taking a series of measures for monitoring the situation and preparing plans of action and operation in case of the outbreak of a pandemic of avian flu, as well as keeping the public informed about the epidemiological situation on a regular basis.

"The spreading of the infection in birds increases the probability of infection in humans. Also, a rise in the number of infected people theoretically increases the probability that, if infected with human and avian flu concurrently, they may become intermediaries in the creation of a new subtype that would facilitate transmission from human to human. Such an occurrence would signal the beginning of a pandemic of avian flu, which is why it is very important to vaccinate people against the human flu virus," Veljko Djerkovic, epidemiologist with the Health Protection Institute in Belgrade, told Blic.

The total quantity of flu vaccine necessary for the protection of all those at risk in Serbia in case of a pandemic is about 3 million doses, according to the draft action plan. Our competent authorities do not believe it would be possible to vaccinate all people at risk on the outbreak of a pandemic (if there should be one), so that priorities have been defined.

Vaccination by group

First on the list of priorities are medical workers, since the fatality rate in earlier pandemics was the highest among medical workers. Next on the list are people employed in the production and distribution of food, water, medicine, electricity, police, firefighters, parliament and government members, public transport workers, funeral home workers, people working in nurseries, schools, telecommunications and rubbish disposal. In the third group are people living in collective accommodation centres. Vaccination would also encompass people above the age of 65 years.

It is estimated that, in case of a pandemic, the annual demand for antibiotics would be used up within two months, so that there are plans for laying in stocks of 5,000 boxes of capsules and 1,000 boxes of syrups for children, antiviral medicine for the treatment of hospitalized infected people, and "significant quantities of medicine for the protection of extremely exposed and earliest infected people until an efficacious vaccine can be developed and produced". There are plans also for laying in "considerable stocks" of multi-layered face masks and about 4,500 special masks for use in hospitals and laboratories, as well as 1,000 special goggles for laboratory use.

Regular analyses

A month after the adoption of the action plan, the competent authorities will have to brief the people once a week about the spread of respiratory infections and ordinary flu, as well as avian flu trends in the world. A campaign will begin at once for vaccination against flu and for informing the people about progress in making plans of operation. [Passage omitted]

Low risk

The competent authorities estimate that the risk of the H5N1 virus entering our country is high, but the risk of the virus spreading among the bird population and being sustained on our territory is very low. Also, the risk of humans in Serbia being infected is negligible, according to the draft action plan.

"Avian flu can be brought to our country by birds of passage - wild geese and ducks. They come to these areas from the European part of Russia and are about due to begin arriving," Aleksandar Ceranic, independent research assistant at the Serbian Hunting and Shooting Federation, told Blic.

Ceranic believes, nevertheless, that these birds do not pose a threat to human health because they have to fly long distances in order to come here, which sick birds could hardly accomplish. [Passage omitted]

Source: BBC Monitoring European

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