WHO says Asia must prepare to control a bird flu pandemic

Asia must do more to prepare for quick action in case a pandemic flu strain erupts because every moment will count at the onset and rapid response will be crucial, the World Health Organisation said today.

“The timeliness is key to detect and report the early signs of a potential pandemic,” Dr. Hitoshi Oshitani, a communicable disease control and response consultant for WHO, said at a two-day conference in Japan.

The meeting is focused on the need for each country to build a rapid response plan that works to detect the disease, report potential problems, distribute antiviral drugs and quarantine infected areas.

Dr. Kenji Fukuda, a researcher at WHO’s Global Influenza Program in Geneva, said developing a good game plan against an outbreak of lethal flu might at least give scientists a head start on developing a vaccine.

“This kind of idea, successfully implemented, could have a dramatic impact on the health of the world,” he said. “If it is not fully successful, but only partially successful, we can still buy significant amounts of time.”

While the discussion wasn’t limited to bird flu, health experts are especially jittery about the H5N1 virus that has ravaged poultry stocks across Asia since late 2003 and now made its way into Europe. The disease has jumped from poultry to people killing at least 78 humans in eastern Asia and two others in Turkey.

The current strain remains difficult for humans to catch, but health officials fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily from person to person, possibly triggering a global pandemic that kills millions. So far, most human bird flu cases have been traced to contact with infected birds.

Turkey is currently battling a bird flu outbreak that has infected 15 people, killing two children. It is the largest number of reported humans infected in one area since the virus re-emerged in Asia more than two years ago.

Asia, however, still remains most at risk, said Dr. Shigeru Omi, WHO’s regional director for the Western Pacific.

“While what is happening in Turkey and elsewhere is obviously worrying, we should not lose track of the fact that Asia is still the epicentre of the threat to global health posed by this virus called H5N1,” he said. “It is here that contact between infected poultry and humans is greatest and because of this, it is here that a pandemic could possibly start.”

More than 20 countries are attending the meeting, which follows discussions at the East Asia Summit last month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Nguyen Tran Hien, director of Vietnam’s National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said he hopes to return home with some clarity and guidelines on what steps to take. He said his country, which has been hardest hit by bird flu, has done a lot over the past year to improve surveillance and awareness, but he’s unsure whether it could currently detect and smother the start of a pandemic flu.

“I think in principle we are ready, but we need more support for equipment, drugs and better training,” he said, before openly appealing to WHO representatives for more help.

WHO said more funding is expected with a bird flu donors pledging meeting scheduled next week in Beijing. Dr. David Nabarro, the UN co-ordinator on avian and human influenza, has said poor countries and international organisations need roughly £850million for bird flu preparedness.