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Five nations confirm bird flu, China faces battle

Posted on: Thursday, 16 March 2006, 10:55 CST

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)

Source: REUTERS

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