Bird flu red alert in Asia

Health experts have warned that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu appears to be entrenched in parts of Southeast Asia after a teenager in a Malaysian village hit by the virus was hospitalised with flu symptoms.

Also, a Chinese laboratory said the avian influenza had been found in pigs, and authorities in northern Thailand reported a new outbreak in ducks.

The deadly strain ravaged poultry flocks throughout Asia earlier this year and killed 27 people in Vietnam and Thailand, which have dealt with recurring outbreaks.

The World Health Organisation said it was troubled that the H5N1 strain had been found in Malaysia – and that the virus appeared to have taken root in parts of Southeast Asia.

“It is going to be a long and difficult struggle to eliminate this virus from the environment,” said Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO regional director. “And the longer it takes, the greater the risk to public health.”

In China, a lab worker at the Harbin Institute of Veterinary Medicine said researchers have found the H5N1 strain in pigs, expanding the number of species that can be infected with the disease.

The worker, who would give only his surname, Yang, refused to give other details.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the virus was found simply in the snouts of the pigs or whether blood tests confirmed that the animals were infected.

Pigs can pick up the virus from sniffing the ground, which doesn’t mean they have the disease.

The deadly strain of bird flu has so far been able to spread from poultry to people, but not directly from one person to another. But health experts worry that it could mutate into a form that can be transmitted among humans.

Bird flu “is not very good at jumping from animals to humans at this point in time, but it can do so”, said Dr. Julie Hall, a WHO expert in Beijing. “It is very important that we prepare for that eventuality.”

Malaysia has gone on a nationwide health alert since its first cases of bird flu were reported Wednesday at a remote northern village near the Thai border.

In northern Thailand, the Livestock Department of Phitsanulok province said yesterday that sick ducks had tested positive for the disease, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether they had the H5N1 strain.

Authorities slaughtered nearly 3,000 birds to halt the virus’ spread.