Bird flu risks becoming global epidemic
Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) The World Health Organization (WHO) has placed the international community on their guard against avian flu infection. If it combines with the human flu, there is the risk that it could turn into a global outbreak.
Meanwhile the fearful bird flu has spread to Laos and Cambodia, sparking serious financial losses throughout eastern and southeastern Asia.
The number of victims is also growing. In Thailand, a six year-old boy from the province of Phitsanulok died this morning of the virus. Kenchai Nenjan the boy's name had been in intensive care since Jan. 16. He is Thailand's second victim of avian flu, after another six year-old boy, Captan Boonmanut, died on Monday, Jan. 26.
The child's father, Chanmnan Boonmanut, is a farmer from the Kanchanaburi province. He accused the government of having covered up the epidemic without giving the necessary information which would have saved his son's life.
Thailand has eliminated around 10 million chickens and is preparing to host a meeting tomorrow of ministers from Asian countries that have been affected by the crisis and leaders from countries who are major importers of poultry (European Union and USA). After the EU's decision, Japan, China, Singapore and South African have decided today to ban Thai poultry imports.
Even the Indonesian government is blamed for covering up the presence of the virus in order to safeguard the country's poultry industry and exports. Marthen Malore, a veterinarian and researcher at the Bogor's Institute of Agriculture, said that last November she identified H5N1 infections at Banten chicken farms in east Java. Department of Animal Husbandry general director, Sofjan Sudardjat, when he learned of the situation, said he preferred to not release the news, since the virus was of the A-type strain, which cannot be transmitted to humans.
In Laos, a chicken farm near the capital, Vientiane, resulted positive after virus tests were conducted there. According to the FAO, at least 700 chickens recently died in Vientiane. There have been no cases of human infection. FAO spokesman, Diderik de Vleeschauwer, said that authorities sent some test specimens to Thailand and results will be ready in the next few days. Singkham Phounvisay, director of the country's Department of Animal Husbandry, said that that the virus still has not been accurately identified. According to Laotian officials the cause of death in chickens is not due to the H5N1 virus. At any rate, the government has launched preventive measures by identifying contaminated farms, distributing safety suits to farmers and gathering information on a daily basis.
Two new suspicious cases of human infection were reported today in Cambodia. Both a man and a boy, from a region north of Phnom Penh, had an unusual fever after their swans died last week. There blood was taken for analysis and resulted positive for the H5N1 virus.
Cambodia is the third country to report cases of human infection, following reports from Vietnam and Thailand.
Today China confirmed that traces of H5N1 were discovered in ducks which died at a farm in the southwestern region of Guangxi. Around 14 thousand farm-raised birds were culled and all chickens in a 5-mile (8 km) radius were isolated. There were no indications of human infection.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, there are reports of suspicious bird plague.
To date, the following countries have been hit by avian influenza: South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Malaysia and Singapore say their countries for now are free of the disease. (MR)
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