Bird Flu Could Kill 100,000 British Children Says Liam Donaldson
- From: Andy <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2006 10:06:21 -0500
Bird flu could kill 100,000 British children: report
Reuters
LONDON - A bird flu pandemic among humans could kill 100,000 children
in Britain, said a government health adviser who recommended schools
draw up plans to close in the event of an outbreak, a newspaper
reported on Sunday.
The Sunday Times quoted government health adviser Liam Donaldson as
saying in a confidential letter to the schools minister that if the
virus was particularly severe, deaths among school-age children "could
be as high as 100,000."
"This would mean that potentially 50,000 deaths might be prevented by
school closures," Donaldson was quoted as saying.
"For this reason, I would recommend that schools should be planning on
the basis that they may have to close for part or all of the
pandemic," he said.
The overall death toll in Britain in a severe outbreak of the disease
could be as high as 700,000, the Sunday Times quoted Donaldson as
writing.
Britain reported its first case of the lethal H5N1 strain in a wild
bird when a mute swan was found dead in Cellardyke harbor in eastern
Scotland last week.
While mainly affecting animals, scientists fear the disease could
mutate into a form that could pass between humans, causing a pandemic.
British government advisers say the chances of that happening are very
low, although the government is preparing for the possibility.
According to the World Health Organization, the virus has killed 109
people, almost all of them in Asia and involving people who had close
contact with infected birds.
Scotland's First Minister Jack McConnell confirmed in a television
interview on Sunday that schools in Scotland could be closed if a
pupil caught the virus.
"The closure of schools would only happen if there were cases being
identified in those schools but clearly if that was the case, the
closure ... would be an immediate and urgent priority," he told Sky
news.
He did not specify if closure would come in a bird to human
transmission of the disease or only in the case of a pandemic.
A report in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said the government was
drawing up emergency plans to tackle widespread food shortages in the
event of a bird flu pandemic.
Officials fear many truck drivers could be unwilling to enter infected
areas if there was a pandemic, leading to supply problems, the report
said.
Off-duty firemen and retired truck drivers would be pressed into
service to deliver essential food supplies, according to "secret"
cabinet documents seen by the Sunday Telegraph.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1823007
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