Re: Global flu plague has started: experts warn of 50 million deaths
- From: "tony" <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 14:16:54 +0800
"tony" <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:...
> Global flu plague has started: experts warn of 50 million deaths
>
>
> Coment: A new plague of Biblical proportions, categorized as a "global
> pandemic"
> is about to begin. The world's leading experts warn that it is now
> "inevitable" and the predicted death-toll is in the region of 50,000,000
> people world-wide, with 10,000 deaths expected in the UK alone. The
> epidemic
> will be caused by a killer strain of bird flu virus which has mutated to a
> human form.
> ***
>
>
> Bird flu 'will spread to the UK'
>
> Avian flu will inevitably spread to Britain through wild migrating birds,
> the president of the British Veterinary Association has warned.
>
> Dr Bob McCracken said water fowl, such as ducks and geese, would be most
> at
> risk, followed by free-range poultry.
>
> UK officials are urging poultry keepers to ensure high levels of
> bio-security.
>
> Following the discovery of the flu in Russia, the European Union called on
> members to step up checks on flocks of migratory birds.
>
> A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
> (Defra) said guidance on how to assess the risk of avian flu will be
> issued
> to vets and industry across Britain.
>
> However, it was not advising British farmers to follow the Dutch
> government's example of advising that birds be kept inside.
>
> Defra officials earlier said the risk of the virus spreading to the UK was
> very low and that taking the same steps as those recently undertaken in
> the
> Netherlands would be "disproportionate".
>
> Dr McCracken, and the EU Commission, agreed with this advice, but said it
> was important that adequate surveillance was in place.
>
> Speaking at a gathering of European vets, Dr McCracken said: "Wild birds
> that have migratory pathways over Europe and the UK will become infected.
> It
> is inevitable that bird flu will be carried to this country by migrating
> birds.
>
> "The majority of our reared birds are still intensively reared and bred in
> large houses that are wild bird-proof. The danger is to free range birds
> and
> to backyard flocks."
>
> Import bans
>
> His calls for greater surveillance were mirrored by the European
> Commission
> spokesman for health and consumer protection, Philip Tod.
>
> Speaking after the EU meeting on Thursday, Mr Tod also said EU poultry
> import bans would be enforced.
>
> "The key to this problem is early detection and rapid action," he added.
>
> The Commission, he said, would make financing available to facilitate
> monitoring but he did not give a figure.
>
> The Dutch measures were put in place after an outbreak of a type of bird
> flu
> which has killed at least 57 people in South East Asia was confirmed in
> Russia.
>
> There are grave concerns of a global pandemic stemming from the H5N1 type
> if
> it mutates into a form which could spread easily from human to human.
>
> It is feared that up to 50 million people around the world could die in a
> flu outbreak, including more than 50,000 in the UK.
>
> In the UK, every GP in the country has been issued with guidance on how to
> deal with a possible outbreak.
>
> Professor Hugh Pennington, the scientist who led the investigation into
> Scotland's e-coli outbreak which killed more than 20 people, said the
> issue
> was "very, very serious".
>
> "This is a very nasty virus. It's doing enormous damage in the Far East at
> the moment. It's got into Russia.
>
> "If it got here, it would be economically disastrous, never mind the human
> impact."
>
> He also said an outbreak could claim more lives than the 250,000 lost in
> the
> UK - and the 40 million worldwide - when an influenza epidemic struck in
> 1918.
>
> Farmers' leaders have also been meeting the government to discuss
> precautions against bird flu.
>
>
>
> BBC News, "Bird flu 'will spread to the UK'", 25 August 2005.
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4184346.stm
>
>
> FURTHER READING
>
> BBC News, "Bird flu 'passed between humans'", 28 January 2005.
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4215659.stm
> Scientists have said a woman who died of bird flu probably contracted
> the disease from her daughter.
> The researchers from the Thai Ministry of Public Health warn it is
> likely there will be more cases where the virus is passed from human to
> human.
> Professor John Oxford, a leading UK expert, said the virus had broken
> down the "final door" which prevented it being spread between people.
> ...
>
>
>
.
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