No need to panic about bird flu yet, says WHO

THE discovery of a lethal strain of bird flu in Chinese pigs has taken the world closer to a human flu pandemic but there is no need to panic yet, the World Health Organisation said yesterday.

WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, Shigeru Omi, said more information was needed on the potentially grave development in the spread of a virus which has killed 27 people across Asia this year.

Speaking after the Chinese government admitted yesterday that the H5N1 virus was found in pigs last year, Mr Omi said: “We would like to know how widespread it is and how this infection took place.

“We have asked for information, but so far there have been no additional details. Overall the Chinese government has been co-operative and I hope they will remain so.”

Mr Omi said he did not want to pass judgement on China’s delay in announcing the infection in pigs until he had a clearer idea of the situation.

Asked earlier about the threat of a global epidemic if pigs had been infected, Mr Omi said: “Of course it’s a little bit closer but how close we don’t know. This is one factor we have to monitor very closely.

“At this point, there is no need for the global community to panic but it doesn’t mean we can relax. We need to remain vigilant.”

China’s Ministry of Agriculture confirmed yesterday that the deadly strain of bird flu was found in pigs in 2003 but said none had been found this year.

The report came just days after a leading Chinese scientist, Chen Hualan said the potentially lethal virus had been found in pigs in both 2003 and 2004.

“The Chinese government attaches great importance to the prevention and control of bird flu,” an official from the ministry’s veterinary administration said.

The ramifications of infection among pigs could be extremely grave, as researchers fear it might be the first step of a mutation of the virus into a form that could spread more easily to humans.

Until now H5N1 had been found only in poultry.

While it was suspected to be carried by swine no cases in pigs had been officially reported. Mr Omi said research indicated the virus “was circulating more widely than we had thought”.

He warned of a “long battle” before bird flu is wiped out in Asia due to poor management and surveillance of animal husbandry.

“The WHO view is that this is a long battle that we have to fight for several years at least,” Mr Omi said.

“We cannot finish it this year because the virus is circulating among poultry, wild birds and migratory birds.”

“There is always a chance that this virus will gain the ability to transmit on a human-to-human basis.”

He praised Malaysia’s efforts to contain a recent outbreak but urged the region to “redouble and triple” cooperation to prevent a possible pandemic.

Thailand, Vietnam, China and Malaysia have reported new cases of bird flu in poultry following the outbreak earlier this year that led to the culling of millions of birds, devastating poultry industries.

Malaysia’s Health Minister Chua Soi Lek earlier said all seven people hospitalised with flu-like symptoms had tested negative for bird flu.

The government announced the H5N1 strain had been discovered for the first time in Malaysia in chickens in a village near the border with Thailand, where eight people have died of bird flu this year.