The United Nations (UN) on Monday called for continued vigilance and
efforts to contain avian influenza in the global scale, especially in Asia, as
it could cause a human pandemic once mutate into a form that could be
transmitted between humans.
While visiting Thailand as part of the five-nation tour to reaccess bird flu
situation in Asia, Senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza,
Dr. David Nabarro, said considerable progress have been made in containing bird
flu over the six months through extraordinary efforts by national government and
others working with them.
He said intense efforts by national and provisional governments,close
integration between agricultural sector and health sector, prompt release of
cash for effective actions, participation of private sector and transparency to
identify and monitor bird flu virus contribute to the improved situation in the
kingdom.
Despite the progress in some countries, the senior official stressed
continued vigilance, political commitment, attention to science in controlling
bird flu, as the epidemic could come back and spread into other parts of the
world with great speed. The virus, which potentially mutates, could also lead to
the next influenza pandemic, he warned.
The Asian region has been hardest hit by avian influenza, or bird flu. World
Health Organization (WHO) figures showed that from 2003 to April 3, 2006, 190
confirmed cases have been reported in Asia, with 107 deaths in nine countries.
He Changchui, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s representative for
Asia and the Pacific, considered Thailand as a success case in fighting bird flu
since the epidemic has been well control within the large commercial sector as
well as in the backyard poultry sector.
No animal or human cases were reported in Thailand over the past five months
after the latest avian influenza in poultry was recorded in Nov. 2005.
Apart from animal vaccination, the Thai government has adopted and
implemented a wide range of bird flu-control strategies such as the massive
mobilization of health volunteers and multi-media public campaigns.
He emphasized the "good practices" of the government in terms of the
transparency of bird flu test results and sharing of virus samples with the
international scientific community.
