Animal health watchdog calls for stronger action ahead of bird flu meeting

The world's paramount agency for veterinary health has issued a
renewed appeal for countries to beef up efforts to combat avian
influenza on the farm, in the run up to a major conference on bird
flu.

'The avian influenza virus strain that appeared in Southeast Asia
about two years ago is currently circulating endemically in several
Asian countries that lack the tools and resources needed to implement
the appropriate eradication measures,' the World Organisation for
Animal Health (OIE) said here.

The OIE called for wealthy countries to help developing nations to
vaccinate all their poultry populations against the H5N1 strain.

It also advocated medium-term measures such as training farmers and
local veterinarians in spotting bird flu infections in order to
quickly contain outbreaks.

'If the international community does not help them in this way, there
is every likelihood of global crises associated with emerging and
re-emerging national diseases frequently occurring,' the OIE said.

The OIE and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have
estimated short-term needs for improving poultry surveillance and
other veterinary measures at 150 mln usd. Only 30 mln usd has been
committed so far, sources at those agencies say.

The OIE, the FAO and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are to stage
a meeting in Geneva next Monday to Wednesday on how to strengthen
cooperation against bird flu. Representatives from the World Bank and
national governments will also attend.

H5N1 at present is confined to migrating birds and poultry, with
backyard flocks of chickens, geese and ducks the most vulnerable. 'The
virus rarely occurs in commercial farms, which now know how to protect
themselves,' the OIE press release said.

The virus is a threat to humans who come into close proximity to
infected birds, notably by breathing virus-laden nasal secretions or
dried, pulverised faeces.

More than 60 people have died of the virus in Asia since 2003, roughly
half of the known cases of human infections. There have been several
suspected cases, but none of them confirmed, by which the pathogen has
spread from human to human.

The fear is that H5N1 could acquire these contagious genes by mixing
with a conventional human flu virus, emerging as a new virus against
which no one would would have immunity.

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