Bird flu, human flu could mix, says WHO

THE World Health Organisation said the massive and simultaneous outbreaks of bird flu across Southeast Asia were “historically unprecedented” and it was worried a new, virulent strain of influenza could sweep around the world.

That could happen, the WHO said, if someone got human and bird flu at the same time, allowing the viruses to exchange genes and form a new strain which could pass easily from person to person.

Another worry is that birds which survive infection excrete the virus for at least 10 days, orally and in faeces, thus facilitating further spread at live poultry markets and by migratory birds.

So far, there is no evidence that has happened, with all known cases infected by direct contact with chickens.

But the WHO said eliminating the H5N1 bird flu virus “should be given high priority as a matter of international public health importance”.

A WHO official said there were no suspected human cases of bird flu in Cambodia.

But Cambodia has shut its borders to poultry and poultry products, although in such a deeply impoverished country any ban is likely to have holes. Bird flu will not be easy to stamp out, as the WHO said the virus had mutated since previous outbreaks in Hong Kong in 1997 and 2003.

The organisation said last night that people hit by the bird flu outbreak should be quarantined to avoid contact with sufferers of regular influenza.

However, a senior official said he saw no need for the kind of travel warnings WHO issued during the last year’s SARS epidemic.