http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16621632%5E23109,00.html
WHO issues new bird flu warning
From correspondents in New York
September 16, 2005
WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) boss Lee Jong-wook issued a new warning about avian flu today, reiterating that the virus, which has triggered a major health scare in Southeast Asia, could mutate into a major killer.
The current H5N1 strain of bird flu, harboured by wild migrating birds and poultry flocks, is lethal for humans, but is not very contagious, nor can it be easily transmitted from person to person.
"The existing H5N1 hasn't yet acquired its ability to transmit among the humans but when it acquires this ability - and there is some evidence that this will be the case - I hope this will be simply less toxic than the existing H5N1, which has killed half the people infected," Mr Lee said.
The WHO's director general spoke at the fringes of a UN Summit where US President George W. Bush launched what he called an "international partnership" aimed at preventing avian flu and other new strains from becoming the first new pandemic of the 21st century.
The WHO's biggest fear is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that will make it highly infectious as well as lethal.
Pressed on whether the stage had come to prepare for a mutated H5N1 virus, Mr Lee said "the biggest fear (is) that it will acquire this capacity but ... the issue is timing".
"We cannot afford to face the pandemic unprepared," Mr Lee said after announcing that the WHO would join the US-led initiative, which is focussed on sharing samples of the virus among lab researchers.
The WHO last month said current production of anti-viral vaccines was insufficient to deal with a catastrophic flu epidemic like the one that struck in 1918 and killed some 40 million people around the world.
WHO already has a stockpile of medicine that could be used during a pandemic, including access to 30 million doses of an antiviral drug called tamiflu, he said.
"The 30 million capsules are reserved by a company. When we tell them to ship to certain countries, they will airlift it to the nearest airports, from where we will be responsible for this," he said.
tsk, tsk...
WHO issues new bird flu warning
From correspondents in New York
September 16, 2005
WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) boss Lee Jong-wook issued a new warning about avian flu today, reiterating that the virus, which has triggered a major health scare in Southeast Asia, could mutate into a major killer.
The current H5N1 strain of bird flu, harboured by wild migrating birds and poultry flocks, is lethal for humans, but is not very contagious, nor can it be easily transmitted from person to person.
"The existing H5N1 hasn't yet acquired its ability to transmit among the humans but when it acquires this ability - and there is some evidence that this will be the case - I hope this will be simply less toxic than the existing H5N1, which has killed half the people infected," Mr Lee said.
The WHO's director general spoke at the fringes of a UN Summit where US President George W. Bush launched what he called an "international partnership" aimed at preventing avian flu and other new strains from becoming the first new pandemic of the 21st century.
The WHO's biggest fear is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that will make it highly infectious as well as lethal.
Pressed on whether the stage had come to prepare for a mutated H5N1 virus, Mr Lee said "the biggest fear (is) that it will acquire this capacity but ... the issue is timing".
"We cannot afford to face the pandemic unprepared," Mr Lee said after announcing that the WHO would join the US-led initiative, which is focussed on sharing samples of the virus among lab researchers.
The WHO last month said current production of anti-viral vaccines was insufficient to deal with a catastrophic flu epidemic like the one that struck in 1918 and killed some 40 million people around the world.
WHO already has a stockpile of medicine that could be used during a pandemic, including access to 30 million doses of an antiviral drug called tamiflu, he said.
"The 30 million capsules are reserved by a company. When we tell them to ship to certain countries, they will airlift it to the nearest airports, from where we will be responsible for this," he said.
tsk, tsk...
