Asia-Pacific countries discuss bird flu disaster plan<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nBrisbane\/Kigali, Rwanda<\/p>\n
Ministers attending an Asia-Pacific conference on avian flu said
\non Monday border closures were an option in the event of a
\npandemic, but said this was only a remote possibility.<\/p>\n
\"Borders and airports could of course be shut down in the last
\nphase of a pandemic,\" said Vietnamese Vice Minister of
\nAgriculture Bui Ba Bong, on the sidelines of a meeting of the
\nAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. \"But that is not
\nthe situation we are facing at the moment.\"<\/p>\n
His comments were echoed by Australian Foreign Affairs
\nMinister Alexander Downer, who cited medical experts as saying
\nthere was only a 10 percent chance that bird flu would mutate
\ninto a virus transmittable from human to human.<\/p>\n
The H5N1 avian influenza is still primarily a bird disease,
\nbut it has infected 121 people and killed 62 since 2003, while
\ntens of millions of birds have died of infection or been culled.<\/p>\n
Principal pandemic and disaster management officials from all
\n21 APEC economies are attending the forum in Brisbane to discuss
\nregional responses to any outbreak of the disease.<\/p>\n
Cambodia's Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and
\nFisheries, Prak Thaveak Amida said controlling the spread of
\navian flu across borders was central to his country's disaster
\nplanning, given the disease is \"at Cambodia's front gate\" after
\nincidents in neighboring Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Downer insisted any cover-up of avian flu outbreaks would be a
\n\"true human catastrophe\" given that speedy identification of
\ncases is the greatest challenge facing the international
\ncommunity, but he was confident APEC was focussed after Monday's
\n\"promising stocktake\" of preparedness.<\/p>\n
\"You don't learn to dance on the day of the party,\" agreed
\nDoug Steadman of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. \"You have
\nto practice, and that's what we're doing here to make sure we
\nhave the plans and that we can implement them effectively.\"<\/p>\n
Steadman is drawing on Canada's first-hand experience of SARS
\nand avian flu in recent years to instruct delegates about the
\nimportance of a water-tight plan, particularly as \"there is still
\ntime for prevention before a pandemic\".<\/p>\n
The meeting comes as the Australian Medical Association (AMA)
\nsaid regional bird flu planning should be based on information
\nand preparedness and not on fear and panic.<\/p>\n
\"People need to be able to get on with their lives without the
\nprospect of some sort of ornithological Armageddon creating fear
\nin the community,\" AMA president Dr. Mukesh Haikerwal said in a
\nstatement on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"People need to understand that the present avian flu virus
\ncannot cause a pandemic because it is barely infectious to
\nhumans. You have to work very hard to catch it,\" he said, adding
\nthat early warning systems to detect and identify the disease and
\nto monitor its progress were essential.<\/p>\n
In a related development, agriculture officials from 53
\nAfrican countries began discussions on Monday on ways of dealing
\nwith avian flu as migratory birds that are believed to have
\nbrought the deadly strain of the disease to Europe are headed to
\nAfrica.<\/p>\n
The conference -- which will later bring together agriculture
\nministers from at least 22 countries -- was originally meant to
\nfocus on fighting trans-border animal diseases, but organizers
\nhave now shifted attention to the looming bird flu crisis.<\/p>\n
Experts worry that bird flu outbreaks in Africa, with its
\nstrained infrastructure, are likely to be poorly reported and
\npoorly managed. Health officials want to keep a close eye on
\nH5N1, fearing it could mutate into a virus that can be passed
\neasily to and between humans and trigger a deadly global human
\nflu epidemic.<\/p>\n
The meeting of agriculture officials in Rwanda's capital,
\nKigali, \"is timely considering the current outbreak of avian
\ninfluenza ... with great potentials of causing high mortality
\namong poultry -- which is one of the biggest sources of income in
\nrural areas -- as well as death to human beings,\" said Rosebud
\nKurwijila, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and
\nAgriculture.<\/p>\n
\"This is a big challenge of our day, but I do believe that
\nwith political will by member states coupled with resource
\nmobilization and support from our development partners, we will
\nsucceed,\" Kurwijila said.<\/p>\n
Countries in eastern, western, central and southern Africa
\nhave banned imports of live and wild birds as well as bird
\nproducts in an effort to control the possible spread of the
\ninfection.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asia-pacific-countries-discuss-bird-flu-disaster-plan-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}