Medics urge bird flu roadmap

Ireland must have a clear roadmap strategy to deal with a major bird flu outbreak in the near future, medics warned today.

The the virus kills 150 people a year in Indonesia and the nearest case of the deadly H5N1 strain was confirmed in Scotland in April.

The incidence of infection is expected to increase again in September when up to 50 billion migratory birds head south for the winter across mainland Europe.

Infectious diseases expert Dr John Lambert today said the Health Service Executive must establish isolation units to contain a prospective outbreak among a small number of people.

Isolation units have been planned for the Mater and Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin but construction hasn’t begun yet.

“Preparations must begin now on better surveillance, stockpiling of flu medicines and vaccines,” Dr Lambert said.

“There are still a lot of questions in my mind. You cannot put everybody in a bubble suit.

“Isolation units won’t necessarily prevent a pandemic outbreak but will contain a small outbreak and prevent further infection,” he told a briefing in Dublin.

He warned that GPs will be in the firing line when the first cases occur and Accident & Emergency units will also be inundated.

He accepted a major disease pandemic would be a challenge for the state’s health services, which he said suffered from a lack of investment until the recent boom in the economy.

Dr Lambert, who is attached to Dublin’s Mater Hospital, said the US state of Maryland, which is the same size as Ireland, has 24 infectious disease doctors compared to only seven in this country.

Dr Lambert said the Irish Government has done quite well in its preparations to date. But he called for infectious disease specialists to be ready to go on call on a 24/7 basis.

London-based Professor John Oxford asserted that there was a huge responsibility on the Irish Government to prevent a major pandemic because it could ruin the economy.

Prof Oxford, who is professor of Virology at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital, said the Irish Government should set itself an 18-month deadline to begin finalising its preparations.

“That is a sensible time frame. Who would have thought Ireland is ahead on many components like the stockpiling of drugs. But the emphasis must be on a comprehensive roadmap with a timeline.”

The medics agreed that the objective must be to prevent deaths or maintain the lowest possible death rate.

After outbreaks across continental Europe, the H5N1 deadly strain was confirmed in a mute swan in Cellardyke Harbour in eastern Scotland in early April.

Agriculture Minister Mary Coughla has insisted that Ireland has robust controls to prevent infection.

The World Health Organisation has warned that it cannot predict the timing or severity of a future pandemic, but the probability it will occur has increased.

It warned that medical facilities will be overwhelmed in the face of a major pandemic flu outbreak.

Frontline health workers may contract the virus and leave a shortage of trained personnel to maintain essential community services.