US prepares to tackle spreading bird flu
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/americas/view/210557/1/.html
By Channel NewsAsia's US Correspondent Priscilla Huff
WASHINGTON : The world remains at risk from bird flu and from pandemic influenza, according to top US administration officials.
The comments come as the World Health Assembly convenes in Geneva, Switzerland, where avian flu is high on the agenda.
Back in Washington, the Bush administration is emphasising halting the spread of bird flu.
Indonesian officials are refusing to rule out the possibility that bird flu can be transmitted from human to human after a cluster of cases in one family.
There had been hopes the spread of bird flu was slowing.
But many fear, it could still evolve into the first global influenza pandemic of the 21st century.
The Bush administration is worried.
"Our concern is still the same; this is a virus that last year seemed to only affect 20 countries and now over 50. It's one that we have to watch and monitor closely. We believe that taking very effective measures, quick surveillance and good surveillance as well as rapid response is really the key to watching this," said Paula Dobriansky, Undersecretary for Democracy & Global Affairs, US Department of State.
Earlier this month, the Bush administration released its plan on pandemic flu which emphasised on keeping the sick away from the healthy.
One particular focus is a recommendation on quarantine. It aims to halt a pandemic before it spreads across the US by quarantining incoming international flights.
At Dulles Airport outside the American capital, the US Centres for Disease Control has expanded its quarantine offices.
Medical officers already know how they will handle a suspected case on board an international flight.
Said Michael Doney at US Centres for Disease Control: "After the plane has landed, we would board the plane in the company of paramedics, customs and border officials to perform a public health assessment. This would involve interviewing the passenger, determining their symptoms, where they'd been, what their activities had been."
Today's globalised travel is expected to fuel the spread of pandemic influenza but officials know, they can't close the US borders.
That is why they are focusing on ports of entry from likely hot zones such as airports serving flights to and from Asia.
"I think that you can talk about illnesses like pandemic influenza and broaden that discussion to say communicable diseases in general," said Doney.
"The term globalisation, reflecting the increased movement of people around the world, does introduce the idea that illnesses can be spread with rapidity. So having people, the quarantine health system, quarantine health stations at these ports of entry allow us to actively be where the action is, and respond to these reports of illness," he added.
The quarantine health system is intended to isolate the disease to prevent it from spreading, and not to necessarily lock up thousands of potential patients.
Scientists and health officials say just about any influenza virus could spark a global pandemic, but so far, most of the attention has been on bird flu.
"There have been discussions on what steps need to be taken, in airports and specifically investigating and checking for strains of H5N1. Those are measures and steps the international community is working on," said Dobriansky.
"And through the WHO (World Health Organisation), there are a number of protocols. In fact, there is a protocol that's being finalised on containment and I think that we just need to work together, so we can have some standards that can be applicable to all," she said.
And international cooperation is essential because officials are convinced that the pandemic influenza would cause significant economic impact.
In the US alone, the White House plan imagines a worst-case scenario - as many as 2 million Americans killed, with 40 percent of the workforce out sick.
But despite Mr. Bush's promise of more than US$7 billion to combat pandemic influenza, some are already concerned that preparations are inadequate.
"We are currently not prepared for a pandemic, but the good news that steps are being taken now. We are strengthening our efforts, in terms of trying to prevent a virus, to control it if it should break out and also to build the infrastructure for pandemic response," said Dr Susan Blumenthal at Tufts University.
Everyone agrees the threat is real.
According to the most recent report from the World Health Organisation, the death rate from bird flu is over 50 percent.
So far, out of 217 cases, 123 people have died.
US officials hope their preparations will curb the spread of bird flu or another pandemic influenza.
But they are in a wait-and-see mode and no one is predicting if or when a pandemic could bring its deadly path around the world.
Alot of undercurrents here regarding timing and the WHO's response/nonresponse.