“Don’t panic over bird flu,” say top officials

By David Ljunggren and Pascal Pinck

OTTAWA (Reuters) – People should not panic about a possible
influenza pandemic, despite the steady spread of a deadly
strain of avian flu among humans, leading health officials and
politicians said on Tuesday.

More than 60 people in Southeast Asia have died of avian
flu and the outbreak among birds has made its way to Europe.
Experts say the world is overdue for a flu pandemic and predict
the most likely cause will be an animal strain that mutates,
allowing it to be passed easily from human to human.

Despite increasing public nervousness, Margaret Chan,
assistant director-general of the World Health Organization,
said the general population should remember it is relatively
hard to catch bird flu.

“We are not in a pandemic yet and I don’t want the
community to have unnecessary anxiety,” she told Reuters
Television in an interview.

Chan and Canadian officials said the public should
understand there are clear differences between avian flu,
seasonal flu and a pandemic that could kill tens of millions —
such as the Spanish flu of 1918-1919.

“We are taking very drastic actions to reduce the risk of
avian influenza to animals and birds,” said Chan, who was in
Ottawa for a conference on combating future pandemics.

There are clear signs the continuing talk about a possible
pandemic is making people nervous.

Roche Canada, a unit of Swiss drug maker Roche AG,
suspended Canadian sales of its antiviral Tamiflu until the flu
season starts, after demand soared. Canada’s chief public
health officer said it made no sense for people to stockpile
Tamiflu, since no one knew when the next pandemic would start.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said the global fight
against a flu pandemic could be undermined if governments fail
to prevent mass panic in the event of widespread fatalities.

“Among the most profound challenges we face is
communication with our own citizens. Public fear, and bad
information, could all too easily snowball into panic,” he told
delegates.

“It would complicate our collective response to a pandemic
immeasurably and magnify its potential impact,” he said.

Italian poultry farmers demonstrated on Tuesday, demanding
action against “irrational fear” over bird flu, which has cut
national consumption of chicken by more than half.

“Our job … is to find the balance between informing and
inflaming, to inspire people to prepare, not to panic. What we
do know is that there is likely to be another pandemic,” said
U.S. Health Secretary Michael Leavitt.

The Ottawa meeting recommended that more be done to stem
the spread of avian flu, boost research on vaccines and
increase surveillance of affected areas.

Mexican Health Minister Julio Frenk said the best way to
ensure sufficient vaccines in the event of a pandemic was to
transfer the necessary technology now to nations such as
Mexico, India, China and Brazil.

Leavitt described the proposal as reasoned while Australian
Health Minister Tony Abbott was more cautious, saying it was
very hard for a country that has no experience in producing
vaccines to suddenly start doing so successfully.

(With additional reporting by Sue Thomas in Toronto)