UN Warns Mutant Strain Of Bird Flu In Asia Poses A Direct Threat To Thailand

[webfact]

UN warns of mutant strain of bird flu virus spreading in Asia

Rome - A major resurgence of avian influenza was likely amid signs that a mutant strain of the bird flu virus was spreading in Asia and beyond, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned Monday.

The FAO urged increased preparedness and surveillance against the variant strain of H5N1, the virus that has infected 565 people since it first appeared in 2003, killing 331 of them. The latest death was reported in Cambodia earlier this month.

The virus remains endemic in six countries - Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Since 2003, it has killed or forced the culling of more than 400 million domestic poultry and caused 20 billion dollars in economic damage, FAO said, before it was eliminated from most of the 63 affected countries.

The FAO said the renewed geographic spread of the virus in poultry and wild birds was noted in 2008, an advance associated with the movements of migratory birds.

These migrations enable the virus to travel over long distances, said Juan Lubroth, the FAO's chief veterinary officer, and in the last two years H5N1 has shown up in poultry or wild birds in virus-free countries.

Recently affected areas were to be found in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Bulgaria, Romania, Nepal and Mongolia.

The appearance of a variant virus in China and Vietnam that is immune to existing vaccines is also a cause for concern, Lubroth said.

The new virus strain in Vietnam is known as H5N1 - 2.3.2.1., and the country was reportedly considering a novel vaccination campaign in autumn.

The virus circulation in Vietnam poses a "direct threat" to Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and endangers the Korean peninsula and Japan, the FAO said.

-- The Nation 2011-08-29

[MILT]

Just when the tourist numbers were starting to come back. Wondering how Thailand will prepare for this pandemic. Will Yingluck tell the Thai people to start killing off birds for the sake of tourist? or will this Novice leader step up with emergency funds needed to create an environment in the poultry industry that the mutant virus has less chance of wanting to thrive. The word is out from the UN but that does not mean the rural (voting base) for the (Pardon Thaskin Party) has been updated to this new mutant strain of an old nemesis.

[surangw]

flu shots not selling too well this year?

[rubl]

A repeat of 2003 / 2004? Maybe this time to be taken a bit more seriously from the start:

2004-01-19:

"Thailand's populist Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has vowed to serve chicken at this week's Cabinet meeting to demonstrate the safety of eating local poultry."

http://articles.cnn.com/2004-01-19/world/birdflu.wrap_1_newin-chidchob-bird-flu-h5n1?_s=PM:WORLD

2004-01-22:

""We will know the lab results on the five suspects today," he said. The government had earlier said three people were being tested for the disease. On Thursday Thaksin denied accusations the government was covering up an outbreak of bird flu and said there had been no human cases of the virus."

http://articles.cnn.com/2004-01-22/world/birdflu.wrap_1_h5n1-bird-flu-bird-cholera?_s=PM:WORLD

(edit: add: not specifically aimed at then PM Thaksin, any government is likely to make the same 'mistakes')

Edited August 29, 2011 by rubl

[News_Editor]

UN warns new strain of bird flu is spreading in Asia

2011-08-30 01:38:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday urged heightened preparedness and surveillance against a possible 'major resurgence' of Avian Influenza amid signs that a mutant strain of the deadly bird flu virus is spreading in Asia and elsewhere.

Although the H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus was eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its peak in 2006, the virus was never completely contained and it remained endemic in six countries, mainly in domestic poultry and wild bird populations. The number of outbreaks shrank steadily from an annual peak of 4,000 to just 302 in mid-2008, but almost 800 cases have been recorded in 2010 and 2010.

According to FAO's chief veterinary officer, Juan Lubroth, bird migration has helped the virus travel over long distances and expand geographically. In the past two years, the H5N1 virus has shown up in poultry or wild birds in countries which had been virus-free for several years such as Bulgaria, Romania, Nepal, Mongolia, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Although the virus may be introduced by bird migratory movements, people's actions in poultry production and marketing determine how the virus is spread. Therefore, Lubroth said these practices "should be better regulated and more hygienic, as the consumer needs to be protected as well as the production facilities because so many people's livelihoods depend upon poultry and poultry rearing."

Lubroth said a further cause for concern is the appearance in China and Vietnam of a variant virus, known as H5N1 - 2.3.2.1., which appears to be able to bypass the defenses provided by existing vaccines.

Most of the northern and central parts of Vietnam, where H5N1 is endemic in poultry, have been invaded by the new virus strain. Vietnam's veterinary services are on high alert and are considering a targeted vaccination campaign this fall after the country suspended its springtime poultry vaccination campaign earlier this year.

FAO noted that virus circulation in Vietnam poses a direct threat to Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia as well as endangering the Korean peninsula and Japan. Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, where the virus is still firmly entrenched, are likely to face the biggest problems but no country can consider itself safe since wild bird migration can also spread the virus to other continents, Lubroth noted.

FAO said the risks of the H5N1 virus for the human health cannot be predicted. However, Lubroth told UN Radio that there is no indication that the new virus strain will behave differently than the previous one or that it is more dangerous to humans.

Since 2003, the H5N1 virus has killed or forced the culling of more than 400 million domestic poultry and caused an estimated $20 billion of economic damage across the globe before it was eliminated from most of the 63 infected countries.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the bird flu virus has infected 565 people since it first appeared, killing 331 of them. Most cases and deaths were recorded in Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and China. The latest death occurred earlier this month in Cambodia, which has registered eight fatal cases of human infection this year.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-08-30

[george]

Bird flu fear as mutant strain hits China and Vietnam

Officials fear the virus could spread from Vietnam

Avian flu shows signs of a resurgence, while a mutant strain - able to sidestep vaccines - could be spreading in Asia, the United Nations has warned.

The variant appeared in Vietnam and China and its risk to humans cannot be predicted, veterinary officials said.

Virus circulation in Vietnam threatens Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia, where eight people have died after becoming infected this year, they warned.

The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 331 people since 2003.

It has also killed or provoked the culling of more than 400m domestic poultry worldwide and caused an estimated $20bn (£12.2bn) of economic damage.

The virus had been eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its 2006 peak, which saw 4,000 outbreaks across the globe, but remains endemic in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

And the number of cases has been rising again since 2008, apparently because of migratory bird movements, said the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) chief veterinary officer, Juan Lubroth.

"Wild birds may introduce the virus, but people's actions in poultry production and marketing spread it," he said.

Avian flu has in the past two years appeared in poultry or wild birds in countries that had been virus-free for several years: Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Bulgaria, Romania, Nepal and Mongolia are among those recently affected.

Mr Lubroth said the new strain had infected most parts of northern and central Vietnam and could also pose a risk to Japan and the Korean peninsula.

South Korea began culling hundreds of thousands of chickens and ducks in December last year after confirming its first cases since 2008.

The FAO is calling for countries to adopt "heightened readiness and surveillance" against a resurgence of the virus.

-- BBC 2011-08-30

[alant]

"The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 331 people since 2003"

7 years, less than 50 a year. whilst i welcome concern over any potential killer illness / bug are there not more devastating health problems out there including malaria and dengue?

[khaowong1]

Unless Thailand wants to be the "Bird Flu Hub" of Southeast Asia, they'll just hide and ignore it.

[Xonax]

Don´t worry! We will all soon be safe by living in "Miracle Thailand"!

[jsflynn603]

Agreed, Dengue and Malaria, as well as TB, liver fluke, and others pose a threat that, in sum, can kill more than a zooonotic variant of Influenza in normal times.

Yet zooonotic variants of influenza be it influenza variants which originated in swine, or in birds has the potential of creating an epidemic of astounding proportions. While TB, malaria and Dengue may wax and wane in the numbers of deaths, for instance Dengue seems to peak every so many years, none of these have the potential for enormous deaths.

The 1918 Influenza was a zooonotic variety of H1N1 derived from swine infection transmitted to humans. The zooonotic component confounds the human immune system, oddly, often in over-reacting. In 1918 small children, and the elderly were little affected, because they had a weak auto-immune system. It was simply an overzealous reaction by the human immune system that essentially killed a tremendous number of very healthy people. During the two years of the 1919 epidemic between 50 and 100 million people died, approximately 3% of the entire world's population out of about 500 million who became ill.

Therefore there really is no comparing a zooonotic variant of Influenza to a more static disease like Dengue or Malaria. It is frustrating to epidemiologists and to the public because there is so much alarm when there is a bird or swine variant, but each time there is such a variant, there is perhaps a 1 in ten chance of a repeat of what happened in 1918. More men died of the 1918 swine flue between 1918 and 1920 than died of wounds or deaths in battle in WWI.

Some variants like the fairly recent swine Influenza (was it '86 or so?) and the recent bird variant simply never caused the radical autoimmune response that the 1918 Influenza did. That Influenza caused the body's immune system to over-react to such a degree that the infected person's own immune system essentially destroyed the person's lungs in an overzealous attempt to fight the Influenza. Should a strain emerge that does this again, and should you live through it, you will never, ever forget it.

[kenmackie]

Just when the tourist numbers were starting to come back. Wondering how Thailand will prepare for this pandemic. Will Yingluck tell the Thai people to start killing off birds for the sake of tourist? or will this Novice leader step up with emergency funds needed to create an environment in the poultry industry that the mutant virus has less chance of wanting to thrive. The word is out from the UN but that does not mean the rural (voting base) for the (Pardon Thaskin Party) has been updated to this new mutant strain of an old nemesis.

the virus that has infected 565 people since it first appeared in 2003, killing 331 of them. The latest death was reported in Cambodia earlier this month.

Hardly a pandemic definatly not an epidemic

[Interman]

flu shots not selling too well this year?

Well said....

If you look at the posts of some of the people on here, they say things like,,, wil Thailand be ready? How will they handle it? blah blah blah, rather than investigating the report.

I remember when a letter was handed out from the school to my students from a local doctor selling the H1N1 shot before there was even one for it.... lol.

Money Money Money.

www.infowars.com

[starkey_rich]

Just when the tourist numbers were starting to come back. Wondering how Thailand will prepare for this pandemic. Will Yingluck tell the Thai people to start killing off birds for the sake of tourist? or will this Novice leader step up with emergency funds needed to create an environment in the poultry industry that the mutant virus has less chance of wanting to thrive. The word is out from the UN but that does not mean the rural (voting base) for the (Pardon Thaskin Party) has been updated to this new mutant strain of an old nemesis.

Same as always.

[webfact]

Thailand alerted to bird flu after patients reported in neighbouring countries

BANGKOK, Aug 30 - Thailand's Ministry of Public Health has remained vigilant for the possibility of an outbreak of bird flu after patients contracting the disease were reported in Vietnam and Cambodia, but no patients and no poultry dying of suspicious causes have been reported here.

Dr Pasakorn Akarasewi, director of Thailand's Bureau of Epidemiology said that the United Nations (UN ) warned of a possible resurgence of the bird flu outbreak, calling for all countries to heighten surveillance.

According to the latest report, a six-year-old girl is among the eight deaths from avian flu virus H5N1 in Cambodia this year.

However, in Thailand, there have been no H5N1 patients so far and no suspicious deaths of poultry.

The public health ministry has cooperated with the livestock department to monitor the situation closely after Vietnam and Cambodia reported H5N1 patients.

Regarding drug resistance problems, he said no irregularity was detected in the use of influenza drug Tamiflu (Oseltamivir).

Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) head said there have been no reports of the H5N1 avian influenza virus showing resistance to Tamiflu from Chulalongkorn University, the Disease Control Department and the public health ministry, which have duties to keep surveillance of the diseases.

More than 20 million doses of Tamiflu produced in 2009 are in Thailand's stockpile, and the drug expires seven years after its manufacturing date.

The GPO started testing live, attenuated influenza vaccine from H5N3 virus. If succeeded, it can be used to prevent the infection.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said migrating birds caused the H5N1 to spread to many countries, but no outbreak has been reported for several years in Israel, Palestine, Bulgaria, Romania, Nepal and Mongolia. Since the virus emerged in 2003, it has claimed 331 lives and infected 565 people. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-08-30

[kumsamut]

Unless Thailand wants to be the "Bird Flu Hub" of Southeast Asia, they'll just hide and ignore it.

Creative writing, yet not a positive solution to the problem.

[Svadhistana]

Just when the tourist numbers were starting to come back. Wondering how Thailand will prepare for this pandemic. Will Yingluck tell the Thai people to start killing off birds for the sake of tourist? or will this Novice leader step up with emergency funds needed to create an environment in the poultry industry that the mutant virus has less chance of wanting to thrive. The word is out from the UN but that does not mean the rural (voting base) for the (Pardon Thaskin Party) has been updated to this new mutant strain of an old nemesis.

Or maybe to kill the tourists for the sake of the birds?

[thailandadam]

seems like Thai officials can take some of that tourism promotional money and use it towards protecting the people and/or working on a vaccine...or would that be too simple?

[bunnaag]

when I came back to my appartment house in Songkhla this morning I saw a note fixed to the door saying that the managment can arrange for bird flu shots only costing 600 Bath.Maybe they are afraid to lose tenents.

[mrdome]

The girl's death occurred in Eastern Kampong Cham province, which sees a lot of traffic to and from Viet Nam and is also Cambodia's most populated province. R.I.P.

[steve w]

whats the problem,in total its killed fewer people than die every day in road accidents in s e asia every day!

nobody seems to be shouting for the banning of cars!

[JohnAllan]

"The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 331 people since 2003"

7 years, less than 50 a year. whilst i welcome concern over any potential killer illness / bug are there not more devastating health problems out there including malaria and dengue?

Yep! But they are happy to admit to those cases, whereas we already know what happened when the last Bird Flu epidemic hit . . . Or didn't hit

[hardy1943]

whats the problem,in total its killed fewer people than die every day in road accidents in s e asia every day!

nobody seems to be shouting for the banning of cars!

Or drunks on motorbikes that kill 800 every year during Song Kran.

[animatic]

Just a matter of weeks to cross from Viet Nam.

Either they take concrete steps to monitor and eradicate FAST, or it will hit the humans soon enough.

Farmers, their children and old people first of course.

Even one preventable death is too many,

if it's in YOUR family.

This is not about selling shots,

but about cutting off the vectors as early and often as possible.

Edited August 30, 2011 by animatic

[Considered Opinion]

Absolute phuquing rubbish. The UN have withdrawn their rubbish claim after a proper doctor said it was twaddle.

[geriatrickid]

There is not much Thailand can do as long as China and Vietnam operate factory farms with little regard to disease prevention and control.

[luangtom]

Hardly a year goes by without a cry for pandemic of one form or another of influenza. A five-year period and less than 500 deaths due to this strain of influenza and yet the UN declares an emergency. How come they are not declaring such an emergency annually in the USA where there are 3,000 - plus deaths each year due to what is deemed "normal influenza"? 3,000 annually in the USA alone and it is not a pandemic in the eyes of the UN, yet less than 500 deaths over five years is in Asia. Something here is awry. This just does not compute.

Just how much of this is prompted by the pharmaceutical industry that sells the world the vaccine?

[sunanta]

flu shots not selling too well this year?

Well said....

If you look at the posts of some of the people on here, they say things like,,, wil Thailand be ready? How will they handle it? blah blah blah, rather than investigating the report.

I remember when a letter was handed out from the school to my students from a local doctor selling the H1N1 shot before there was even one for it.... lol.

Money Money Money.

www.infowars.com

Can not harm Thailand.......We have 10 new Grypen fighter jets....Cant these people see we are being attacked by birds and mosquitos???

[cutter007]

This is joke the press releases about "threats" have obviously been written by some that read. How to create a false panic for dummies authored by George W Bush. Lighting kills about 24,000 people a year. It would take bird flu about 500 years at current pace to kill as many people as lightning in one year. If the UN had a clue the headline would read.........Lightning in Asia poses direct threat to Thailand.

[cutter007]

Hardly a year goes by without a cry for pandemic of one form or another of influenza. A five-year period and less than 500 deaths due to this strain of influenza and yet the UN declares an emergency. How come they are not declaring such an emergency annually in the USA where there are 3,000 - plus deaths each year due to what is deemed "normal influenza"? 3,000 annually in the USA alone and it is not a pandemic in the eyes of the UN, yet less than 500 deaths over five years is in Asia. Something here is awry. This just does not compute.

Just how much of this is prompted by the pharmaceutical industry that sells the world the vaccine?

About 97% and Thailand is a primary market uneducated population that love popping pills.

[connor6063]

Well, we can use the thousands of stray dogs to kill birds all over Thailand. Kills 2 birds with 1 stone. =D