Four nations confirm bird flu, China faces struggle

By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Four Asian nations confirmed the
presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu on Thursday
while China said it faced a long struggle to contain the
disease before the arrival of flu-carrying migratory birds in
spring.

Afghanistan, India and Myanmar said tests had now confirmed
H5N1 caused recent outbreaks in birds, while Malaysia reported
two new cases in a wild bird and dead chickens.

In India, veterinary workers began throttling more than
70,000 birds to try to control the latest outbreak there.
Hundreds of people were also tested for fever.

“There is no time for niceties. The birds have to be killed
as fast as possible,” said Bijay Kumar, animal husbandry
commissioner of the state of Maharashtra, where bird flu
resurfaced this week in backyard poultry.

Bird flu has spread with alarming speed in recent weeks
across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia, leaving some
impoverished nations such as Afghanistan and Myanmar appealing
for protective clothing and other basic equipment.

The more it spreads, the greater the fears of the virus
mutating into a form that could easily pass from one person to
another, triggering a pandemic in which millions could die.

“Now the virus is becoming crazy. The virus is becoming
unpredictable,” said Noureddin Mona, the Food and Agriculture
Organization’s (FAO) representative in Beijing, referring to
bird flu’s rapid spread in recent weeks.

Although hard to catch, people can contract bird flu after
coming into contact with infected birds.

Denmark became the latest European country to report a case
of highly pathogenic bird flu in wild fowl on Wednesday. But it
has yet to confirm it is H5N1, which has killed about 100
people in Asia and the Middle East since 2003.

Neighboring Sweden confirmed its first outbreak on
Wednesday.

Three young women who died in recent weeks in Azerbaijan,
on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, are thought to be
the latest human victims of the virus, which also killed a dog
in the former Soviet state.

FEVER TESTS

So far, no human cases have been reported in India,
Afghanistan, Myanmar or Malaysia but hundreds of people near
India’s latest outbreak in western Maharashtra state have
complained of fever. Doctors say they are most likely suffering
from dengue but further tests are being done.

Indian health authorities said they were not taking any
chances and had sent dozens of medical teams looking for people
with flu-like symptoms to every household of the affected area.

Veterinary and civic workers wearing protective gear moved
door-to-door in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra collecting
chickens and eggs after paying owners 40 rupees (90 cents) for
every bird as compensation. Eggs went free.

In Myanmar, officials have slaughtered more than 5,000
birds, temporarily closed poultry markets and banned bird
movements in two bird flu-hit townships, state media said.

A Bangkok laboratory confirmed the findings of Myanmar
officials who announced the country’s first outbreak in the
Mandalay Division on Monday, a U.N. official said.

The Afghan government and the United Nations also confirmed
the presence of H5N1 in the South Asian nation.

But there is concern that Afghanistan, with weak veterinary
and health sectors after decades of war, will struggle to
contain an outbreak. Agriculture officials say they don’t even
have protective suits that should be worn during culling of
poultry.

Malaysia reported its latest cases in central Perak state
and a senior veterinary official said bird culling had begun
within a 1-km (1,100 yard) radius around the sites of the two
new cases.

In China, where 10 people have died of bird flu, health and
government officials say the vast nation faces an uphill
struggle to contain bird flu ahead of an expected spike in
infections during spring once migratory birds return on their
way north.

“The surveillance system depends on people showing up in
hospitals or health care centers. The Ministry of Health
recognizes this is an issue,” said Julie Hall, who oversees the
World Health Organization’s fight against bird flu in China.

The Asian Development Bank unveiled a $38 million program
on Thursday to help poor countries plug gaps in their bird flu
defenses. Myanmar and Azerbaijan were likely to be the first
recipients.

In a hopeful sign, Swiss drug maker Roche said it was
boosting output of its flu drug Tamiflu. After striking deals
with external producers, production capacity would increase by
an additional 100 million treatments to a total of 400 million
by the end of the year.

(For more stories, pictures and video on bird flu see
http://today.reuters.com/News/GlobalCoverage.aspx?type=globalNew

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(Additional reporting by Asian and European bureaux)