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WHO Chief Says Bird Flu Still Little Understood

Posted on: Thursday, 2 February 2006, 08:20 CST

ANKARA -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday the death of an Iraqi girl believed to have had bird flu showed how little was known about the disease.

Tests carried out by a British laboratory on the Iraqi teenager have confirmed she died of bird flu, the New Scientist magazine said on its Web site on Thursday.

WHO officials have declined to confirm the report but say they are working on the assumption that the H5N1 strain of bird flu was indeed the cause of her death.

"(The death) has highlighted how little is still known about the spread of the avian flu virus among poultry. Before her death, the presence of H5N1 in poultry in Iraq was not known," WHO director-general Lee Jong-Wook told a news conference during a visit to the Turkish capital Ankara.

"Similarly here there was almost no prior warning of infection in poultry in the eastern part of Turkey," he added.

Four children have died in Turkey from bird flu over the past month. There was little evidence of the virus among birds in the affected region of eastern Turkey before the first human victim died on January 1.

The H5N1 virus has killed at least 85 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in southeast Asia and China.

Lee reiterated that there was nothing to suggest any change in the pattern of transmission of the virus.

"Our investigation has found no evidence the virus is being spread among humans. This remains a problem of (transmission from) poultry to humans and poultry to poultry," he said.

Scientists say the H5N1 virus is mutating steadily and may acquire the changes it needs to be easily transmitted from human to human. It could then sweep the world in weeks or months, killing millions, because humans lack any immunity to the virus.

"The outbreak here in Turkey was similar to outbreaks in east Asia," Lee said, adding that the most vulnerable group remained children and young adults exposed to poultry, usually in their backyards.

"All sectors, including those of agriculture and human health, must work together to common purpose... Our response must be broad-ranging and international," he said.

Lee praised the Turkish government's handling of the crisis, describing it as speedy and transparent.

The WHO now had teams working in seven countries neighbouring Turkey, including Iraq, he added.

"Turkey is at the crossroads between east and west, it is connected to Europe and to Asia, so good surveillance is important for everybody," Lee said.

Source: REUTERS

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