Bird flu is endemic to Asia: FAO
Bird flu is endemic to Asia: FAO
Bloomberg, Singapore
New outbreaks of bird flu in China, Thailand and Vietnam show
that the virus, which can spread to humans, is ``still endemic''
to the region, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) said on Saturday.
Thailand and China this week reported their first cases of
the disease in poultry in more than three months, while Vietnam
cited two outbreaks last week. The disease led to a ban on
imports of chicken from affected countries. Thailand and China
are the world's fourth- and fifth-biggest poultry exporters.
"After the major outbreaks of a few months ago, affected
countries succeeded in bringing the disease under control," said
Joseph Domenech, chief of the FAO Animal Health Service in a news
release. "The new outbreaks clearly demonstrate that the virus
continues to circulate in parts of the region and new cases might
flare up in future, posing a continuing threat to human health."
Bird flu is endemic in wild-bird populations, and can spread
to domestic flocks and mammals. The virus, known as H5N1, has
killed at least 22 people in Asia since October, and led to the
cull of more than 100 million fowl earlier this year.
Outbreaks of bird flu that began in China in 1957 and 1968
are each believed to have killed more than 1 million people
worldwide. Chinese health officials have acknowledged that the
government didn't disclose those outbreaks or try to contain
them.
The FAO said it is "very encouraging" that governments
have reacted quickly to the latest outbreaks of the virus.
Thailand ordered a chicken cull on an affected farm 50
kilometers north of Bangkok. Today Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra said he ordered the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment to kill all wild storks, which he
blamed for the latest outbreaks, Agence France-Presse said.
China said it slaughtered all poultry in a three-kilometer
radius of an outbreak in Anhui province. China also suspended
poultry exports from the region, according to a statement posted
on the Ministry of Commerce Web site. Chinese provinces will stop
issuing permits for the sale of live chicken and poultry products
from Anhui, the ministry said in the statement.
In Vietnam, health officials sprayed chemicals to
decontaminate affected areas, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
"In designing their control strategies governments need to
acknowledge that the virus will continue to circulate and that
different flu viruses could also be introduced," Domenech said.
"Eradication of the avian flu virus should be considered, at
best, as a long-term task."
There are indications the avian flu virus is still present
in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, the FAO
said.