Bird Flu Sinks Its Talons into Asia

MANILA, Philippines, January 28, 2004 (ENS) - A vaccine to protect humans from the H5N1 avian flu virus that has spread through Asia's poultry stock is at least six or seven months away, according to a top World Health Organization official. The avian virus that has hit 10 Asian countries, killing eight people and millions of birds, could mutate and jump the species barrier to spread among humans, presenting a serious global threat to human health, officials fear.

Dr. Shigeru Omi, director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region said Tuesday in Manila, "We have never seen such a wide spread of a highly aggressive avian virus before." Research is already underway on the development of a human vaccine against the H5N1 strain.

"A vaccine to protect humans may become available, but this is some time away," Dr. Omi said, "Most best-case scenarios suggest at least six or seven months. Therefore, our immediate focus must be on prevention, containment and control of the H5N1 virus within poultry."

Chicken farmers across Asia are monitoring their birds for flu symptoms. (Photo courtesy WHO)

The three organizations appealed to donors to address the global threat from avian flu and to provide funds and technical assistance to countries to help eliminate this threat.

“Farmers in affected areas urgently need to kill infected and exposed animals and require support to compensate for such losses," said Dr. Jacques Diouf, FAO director-general. "This will represent a huge cost, especially to struggling economies and small farmers. The international community has a stake in the success of these efforts and poorer nations will need help,” Dr. Diouf said.

The focus of FAO, OIE and WHO activities is to avert a human and animal pandemic during what Dr. Diouf called ”a brief window of opportunity before us to eliminate that threat.”

"We have faced several emerging infectious diseases in the past," said, WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook. “This time, we face something we can possibly control before it reaches global proportions if we work cooperatively and share needed resources. We must begin this hard, costly work now.”

Dr. Shigeru Omi of Japan is director of the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region. (Photo courtesy WHO)

Although it has not happened yet, the bird flu presents a risk of evolving into "an efficient and dangerous human pathogen," the three agencies warned.

To halt the spreading virus, they called for "tight and effective control" of animal movement in affected areas. Farm workers must wear protective clothing during the culling operations. In addition, vaccines need to be supplied. Farmers, especially backyard farmers, need to be supported for losses that will surely be significant.

Ten governments - Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam have reported outbreaks in poultry flocks.

In other countries of the region, India has issued a bird flu alert to all state governments, although officials said no cases have been reported yet. "We've alerted the animal husbandry ministry and state governments especially those bordering Pakistan and Myanmar to keep a lookout for any cases," Health Ministry Secretary J.V.R. Prasada Rao said today.

The disease is spreading most quickly in Thailand and Vietnam. Bangkok's Deputy Mayor Prapan Kittisin Tuesday declared four districts of Bangkok to be a "danger zone" after the virus was found in a fighting cock, chickens and ducks. Officials have stopped the movement of poultry within a 50 kilometer (30 mile) radius of the city.

Agriculture Minister Somsak Thepsutin said the disease has affected 25 of Thailand's 76 provinces. The said any farmers found hiding infected chickens to avoid culling operations will be punished. The police will arrest anyone caught dumping poultry carcasses into rivers and waterways and charge them with violating public hygiene laws.

Thailand is hosting an emergency meeting on the avian disease today in Bangkok with representatives of the United States, the European Union, international organizations and Asian governments affected by the virus, in attendance.

A young chicken is vaccinated to test a series of a new vaccine at the Nong Teng Vaccine Production Institute in Laos, 1995. (Photo by H. Wagner courtesy FAO)

Prototype viruses for vaccine production are being prepared by laboratories in the WHO Global Influenza Network that have the high security facilities needed to safely conduct work on a highly pathogenic virus such as H5N1, WHO explained. Prototype viruses are then supplied to manufacturers as the "seed stock" for vaccine production.

Laboratories in Hong Kong and Japan have isolated the virus from specimens obtained from two of the laboratory confirmed fatal cases in Vietnam. The virus is now being analyzed at the molecular level to obtain information about its origin and its relationship to viruses currently circulating in birds and possibly other animals.

Candidate vaccines were developed last year, by WHO network labs in London, Memphis for protection against the H5N1 virus strain which caused two cases and one death in Hong Kong last February.

If the virus isolated from the fatal cases in Vietnam proves sufficiently similar to the 2003 H5N1 strain in Hong Kong, the existing candidate vaccines could expedite the availability of a new vaccine.

Country by Country Bird Flu Survey

• Cambodia:
  The H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed in samples of dead chickens from a farm near Phnom Penh on Friday. Some 3,000 birds have died on three farms in recent weeks. The UN fears a larger outbreak, as it says the government does not appear to have proper measures to control the disease. No human cases.

• China:
  The Ministry of Health in China Tuesday confirmed the presence of H5N1 bird flu in a duck farm in the southern province of Guangxi. The H5N1 strain was Testing is under way of samples from poultry outbreaks in the adjacent Hunan and Hubei provinces. Ducks are involved in the outbreak in Hunan, and chickens are involved in Hubei.

  Strict measures to control all outbreaks, including culling and quarantine, have been undertaken. No cases of human illness linked to these outbreaks have been detected to date.

• Indonesia:
  Indonesia officially confirmed the presence of bird flu in the country on Sunday, and tests are underway to determine whether it is the H5N1 strain. Despite the deaths of about 4.7 million birds, mainly on the islands of Bali and Java, officials say there will be no official mass cull of poultry as recommended by the World Health Organization. No human cases have been found.

  Independent and government researchers first detected the existence of avian flu in Indonesia in November 2003, but the government said it was the less serious Newcastle disease which cannot spread to humans.

• Japan:
  A farm where H5N1 avian flu was detected in late December 2003 is the center of a 30 kilometer (18 mile) poultry trading ban imposed by veterinary authorities. More than 34,000 birds have been slaughtered or have died, but health officials are confident that the country's first outbreak for 79 years has been contained. No human infections.

• Laos:
  Samples of dead birds from Vientiane province have been sent to Vietnam for tests. The Laos Government has said that the disease destroying poultry in the country is bird cholera. An unnamed UN official told the Agence France Presse news agency on Monday that avian influenza is present in the country. No human cases reported.

• Pakistan:
  Pakistan's state run Agriculture Research Commission has said the H7 and H9 strains of the virus infecting chickens in Pakistan are less fatal variations of the H5N1 strain.

• South Korea:
  Authorities confirmed an outbreak of avian influenza near the capital Seoul on December 15, 2003. They ordered the cull of 1.8 million chickens and ducks and have quarantined affected farms. After initial success, a further 88,000 birds were slaughtered in mid-January after a renewed outbreak. No human infections have been reported.

• Taiwan:
  Taiwan confirmed that two farms in the south of the island had been affected by a less virulent strain of avian influenza, H5N2, in mid-January 2004, and ordered the cull of 55,000 chickens. Taiwan has banned all imports of live birds from Japan. No cases have been reported since, and there have been no human infections.

• Thailand:
  The human death toll from avian influenza in Thailand could be as high as six, Ministry of Public Health officials believe. Five people out of 10 suspected cases have died, in addition to a six year old boy, the country's only confirmed death from H5N1 avian flu so far.

  The government has been criticized for inaction after denying for weeks that bird flu was present in the country. Since the outbreak began in November 2003, some 11 million birds have died or been culled.

• Vietnam:
  Vietnam has suffered the worst outbreak of H5N1 in the current epidemic. Officials confirm eight cases of H5N1 infection in humans, and six of those people have died. Nine others are showing symptoms and 27 more suspected cases. Dr. Omi said, "We expect that there might be many more cases."

  Nearly three million birds have been culled in 23 of Vietnam's 64 provinces. Outbreaks in 445 separate locations have been reported since December 27, 2003.