Epidemic a reality as bird flu cases escalate
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/ep...cases-escalate/2005/09/21/1126982124521.html#
The World Health Organisation is warning of a catastrophic bird flu pandemic, and Indonesia has admitted it already has an epidemic after a five-year-old girl died and nine more patients were quarantined.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, said yesterday the consequences of a bird flu pandemic would be "enormous", as Australia agreed to a request from Indonesia's Health Ministry to fund the purchase of 10,000 doses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
In Japan, the Ministry for Agriculture said it was about halfway through the slaughter and incineration of 1.5 million chickens as it tries to contain the virus. Thirty-one poultry farms, all involved in egg production, remain under quarantine after testing positive during recent sweeps.
The virus is estimated to have infected more than 10 million birds in Indonesia.
In Jakarta, a two-year-old girl with flu-like symptoms died at Cikini Hospital in the city centre yesterday. A spokeswoman said her tests for bird flu had not been returned. Three more patients, a 19-year-old, a 17-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl, were admitted to Jakarta hospitals with similar symptoms yesterday. The girl had visited Jakarta's zoo before it was closed on Monday due to the spread of the virus.
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The five-year-old victim, Riska Hardiyanti, died of acute pneumonia "with signs that it was caused by virus", the Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, said. Initial local tests were negative for the virus but more testing was required, she said.
Mrs Supari said yesterday the outbreak "can be described as an epidemic … [cases] will happen again as long as we cannot determine the source". She urged the public to stay calm.
The Agriculture Minister, Anton Apriyanto, said Indonesia was prepared to conduct a mass
cull of poultry where any bird flu outbreak was serious, but he was immediately contradicted by his own department. A senior official told the Herald "there will be no mass culling on Java" - the most heavily populated island, where five deaths have been linked to the bird flu virus. "There will be no plague in Java because the birds have been vaccinated," he said.
Mr Apriyanto said more than 20 per cent of birds must carry the virus before an area would be considered highly infected.
In July, he called off a cull of an infected area near Jakarta where three people died from bird flu, saying the Government lacked the funds to compensate farmers.
Under World Health Organisation guidelines all birds within three kilometres of a bird flu outbreak should be killed and strict restrictions on movement imposed. The organisation is warning of a catastrophic pandemic if the virus begins to be easily passed between humans.
After an emergency meeting on Tuesday night, Indonesia's cabinet endorsed placing the country on "extraordinary alert" over bird flu.
Mr Howard said yesterday he was confident adequate measures had been taken to deal with the threat posed by a bird flu pandemic, but "it's one of those things that we must keep our focus on … It's not an exaggeration to say that if it really occurred, the consequences of it would be enormous."
The Commonwealth's Chief Medical Officer, John Horvath, said although he was deeply concerned about the bird flu situation in Indonesia, the latest developments were a continuation of an 18-month long outbreak.
"Of greatest importance is the question of whether these recent events in Indonesia signal the start of an influenza pandemic - I am advised that currently there is no evidence that this has happened," he said. Indonesia's decision to declare an emergency situation was a "positive sign", he said, as it indicated that all potential new cases would be investigated and any change in the situation quickly identified.
Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, accused the Government of being slow to act in trying to co-ordinate a regional response to the bird flu threat. The latest outbreak of bird flu in Jakarta "underlines the need of the Australian Government to increase its efforts to combat the threat of a pandemic in the region", he said.
International co-operation on dealing with bird flu is expected to be discussed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in South Korea in November.
Vietnam, where more than 40 people have died of bird flu over the past two years, has appealed for help to improve early detection of the virus. The country has not reported any new human cases recently but would begin stockpiling Tamiflu and boost monitoring at 800 hospitals, Reuters reported state media as saying yesterday.
With Ruth Pollard
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/ep...cases-escalate/2005/09/21/1126982124521.html#
The World Health Organisation is warning of a catastrophic bird flu pandemic, and Indonesia has admitted it already has an epidemic after a five-year-old girl died and nine more patients were quarantined.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, said yesterday the consequences of a bird flu pandemic would be "enormous", as Australia agreed to a request from Indonesia's Health Ministry to fund the purchase of 10,000 doses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
In Japan, the Ministry for Agriculture said it was about halfway through the slaughter and incineration of 1.5 million chickens as it tries to contain the virus. Thirty-one poultry farms, all involved in egg production, remain under quarantine after testing positive during recent sweeps.
The virus is estimated to have infected more than 10 million birds in Indonesia.
In Jakarta, a two-year-old girl with flu-like symptoms died at Cikini Hospital in the city centre yesterday. A spokeswoman said her tests for bird flu had not been returned. Three more patients, a 19-year-old, a 17-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl, were admitted to Jakarta hospitals with similar symptoms yesterday. The girl had visited Jakarta's zoo before it was closed on Monday due to the spread of the virus.
AdvertisementAdvertisement
The five-year-old victim, Riska Hardiyanti, died of acute pneumonia "with signs that it was caused by virus", the Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, said. Initial local tests were negative for the virus but more testing was required, she said.
Mrs Supari said yesterday the outbreak "can be described as an epidemic … [cases] will happen again as long as we cannot determine the source". She urged the public to stay calm.
The Agriculture Minister, Anton Apriyanto, said Indonesia was prepared to conduct a mass
cull of poultry where any bird flu outbreak was serious, but he was immediately contradicted by his own department. A senior official told the Herald "there will be no mass culling on Java" - the most heavily populated island, where five deaths have been linked to the bird flu virus. "There will be no plague in Java because the birds have been vaccinated," he said.
Mr Apriyanto said more than 20 per cent of birds must carry the virus before an area would be considered highly infected.
In July, he called off a cull of an infected area near Jakarta where three people died from bird flu, saying the Government lacked the funds to compensate farmers.
Under World Health Organisation guidelines all birds within three kilometres of a bird flu outbreak should be killed and strict restrictions on movement imposed. The organisation is warning of a catastrophic pandemic if the virus begins to be easily passed between humans.
After an emergency meeting on Tuesday night, Indonesia's cabinet endorsed placing the country on "extraordinary alert" over bird flu.
Mr Howard said yesterday he was confident adequate measures had been taken to deal with the threat posed by a bird flu pandemic, but "it's one of those things that we must keep our focus on … It's not an exaggeration to say that if it really occurred, the consequences of it would be enormous."
The Commonwealth's Chief Medical Officer, John Horvath, said although he was deeply concerned about the bird flu situation in Indonesia, the latest developments were a continuation of an 18-month long outbreak.
"Of greatest importance is the question of whether these recent events in Indonesia signal the start of an influenza pandemic - I am advised that currently there is no evidence that this has happened," he said. Indonesia's decision to declare an emergency situation was a "positive sign", he said, as it indicated that all potential new cases would be investigated and any change in the situation quickly identified.
Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, accused the Government of being slow to act in trying to co-ordinate a regional response to the bird flu threat. The latest outbreak of bird flu in Jakarta "underlines the need of the Australian Government to increase its efforts to combat the threat of a pandemic in the region", he said.
International co-operation on dealing with bird flu is expected to be discussed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in South Korea in November.
Vietnam, where more than 40 people have died of bird flu over the past two years, has appealed for help to improve early detection of the virus. The country has not reported any new human cases recently but would begin stockpiling Tamiflu and boost monitoring at 800 hospitals, Reuters reported state media as saying yesterday.
With Ruth Pollard
