Five nations confirm bird flu, China faces battle

By Krittivas Mukherjee

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

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.

Denmark, the latest European country affected, said tests
showed a wild buzzard found south of Copenhagen had H5N1.

Swiss drug maker Roche said it was boosting output of its
flu drug Tamiflu by a third. Tamiflu is seen as one of the most
effective methods of treating people infected with H5N1.

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
Organisation’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.

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. If confirmed as caused
by H5N1, the deaths would take the human toll from the virus to
over 100.

David Nabarro, senior U.N. coordinator for avian influenza,
said he expected the virus to continue to spread in birds.

“With the arrival of H5N1 in birds, we have been given a
wake-up call. It is truly essential for every leader of every
country to be aware that this is a global issue,” he told
reporters during a visit to Brussels.

ROCHE GEARS UP

Roche has agreed deals with external producers to make more
Tamiflu available. Production capacity is to increase by an
additional 100 million treatments to a total of 400 million by
the end of the year.

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.

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.

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 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 Organisation’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.

(For more stories, pictures and video on bird flu see

http://today.reuters.com/News/GlobalCoverage.aspx?type=globalNew

s) (Additional reporting by Asian and European bureaus)