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WHO warns China of possible bird flu attack
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-23 08:38
The World Health Organization (WTO) warned Thursday that it is too early to
tell if the avian influenza in China is under control, adding that prevention
and detection measures should be stepped up.
Dr. Shigeru Omi, WHO's Western Pacific regional director, made the remark
during a visit to the home of a nine-year-old boy in central China's Hunan
Province who survived a bout of the flu. He was China's first human case of
H5N1.
"It is too early to say if it is under control," said Dr. Omi. "I will not be
surprised if we have more human cases during the winter months."
He said bird flu outbreaks in December, January and February, can be much
more serious.
So far, China has reported two deaths among six human cases of bird flu in
Hunan, Anhui, Guangxi, Liaoning and Jiangxi provinces.
"Based on the experiences from other countries, the number of cases will drop
and then rise again," said Dr. Omi.
"A temporary reduction in the number of cases doesn't mean the circulation of
the virus has been halted. We have to assume that the virus is still
circulating. That the virus is still there in the environment at least among
chickens and ducks," he said.
He warned that the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus is very
unpredictable and unstable and could mutate into a form that can pass easily
between people, leading to a human pandemic.
"We have to assume that it is impossible for this virus to become so
infectious that a global pandemic might happen," he said. "We are very concerned
about the possibility this virus can efficiently transmit human to human."
"We don't know when it will happen," he said. "But we have to prepare for the
worst situation, and the international community has to do its utmost to try to
avert or prevent it."
Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia have also reported human cases of bird flu in
the past few months.
"Fortunately, so far all the reported human patients were infected by sick
poultry and where not acquired from human transmission," Dr. Omi said. It is
crucial to detect the occurrence of human cases of bird flu.
"Each human case is very important," he said.
The WHO delegation including Henk Bekedam, WHO's representative in China, Lee
Chin-Kei, project officer of WHO in China and Roy Wadia, Who's information
officer in China congratulated Hunan for successfully treating the nine-year-old
boy.
The WHO delegation met with local health officials in Hunan and called for
the prompt and quick detection of human cases of bird flu and enhancement of the
reporting of animal outbreaks.
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