Deadly Asian bird flu reaches fringes of Europe -- Good Luck
- From: "Jason P" <jaspetr@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 13 Oct 2005 13:02:12 -0700
Okay, it's officially in Europe...
Only a matter of time, before it hits the UK and the North American
continent.
There won't be enough flu vaccine for this year, anyway.
We'd all better hope to God that it doesn't really bloom widespread
until next year at the earliest. Maybe we'll get lucky and only few
hundred to a thousand cases will be the net result for this year.
If it mutates, and is transmitted from human to human, then there is no
stopping it until a vaccine is developed and everyone is inoculated. I
think that won't happen in either case until next year at the earliest.
The mutation usually takes a year and so does developing a vaccine.
It's a horse race really.
Buy lots of surgical masks and stay out of public areas when it does
come, at least until a vaccine is produced. And if your sick with it,
wear a surgical mask for everyone else's sake.
-- --
Deadly Asian bird flu reaches fringes of Europe
By Jeremy Smith 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A strain of bird flu that can be deadly for humans
has spread from Asia to the fringes of Europe, and countries should
prepare for a potential pandemic, Europe's health chief said on
Thursday.
EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said a
strain of the disease found in Turkey had been identified as the same
virus that killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003 and forced the
slaughter of millions of birds.
The European Union's executive was also assuming bird flu found in
Romania was the same virulent strain known as H5N1, he said. A British
laboratory is expected to publish final test results for Romania on
Friday.
"The virus found in Turkey is avian flu H5N1," he said. "It's a highly
pathogenic and aggressive virus."
Experts fear H5N1 could mutate into a virus which spreads easily among
humans, possibly killing millions of people.
"It's true that scientists caution us and warn us that there will be a
pandemic," Kyprianou told a news conference.
The confirmation the virus had spread to the edge of Europe, where
people know little about the disease, would likely cause consternation,
and affect trade, travel and economic activity.
The Commission has banned imports of live birds and poultry meat from
Turkey, where it was discovered at a farm near the Aegean and Marmara
seas, and from Romania.
Romania said it had detected bird flu in the delta of the Danube river,
Europe's largest wetlands and a big migratory area for wild birds from
Russia, Scandinavia, Poland and Germany.
The birds mainly move to warmer areas in North Africa including the
Nile delta for winter.
Albert Osterhaus, a leading expert and professor of virology at Erasmus
Medical Center in the Netherlands, said the confirmation of the H5N1
virus in Turkey indicated the virus was probably brought by migratory
birds.
"If this has been introduced by migratory birds, this could just as
well happen in western Europe," he said.
"The birds would share grazing or resting grounds with other birds and
in this way pass on the virus, so there are a lot of different
migratory routes for this virus in Europe."
EU veterinary experts are considering wether to impose a ban on outdoor
poultry in high risk areas in the wetlands to avoid contact with wild
birds.
EU experts on avian influenza and migratory birds will hold an
emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss preventive measures.
Last month, EU experts identified 15 bird species that may pose a
higher risk of transmitting the virus, including teal and mallard
ducks, northern lapwing and some goose and gull types.
THOUSANDS OF BIRDS KILLED
Thousands of birds have been slaughtered in Turkey and Romania to
prevent the spread of the disease.
In Turkey, government officials said Turkey faced no general public
health threat and had taken all necessary measures against a possible
flu epidemic. Around 7,600 birds have been killed in Turkey since the
outbreak began.
Farm Ministry official Beytullah Okay told CNN Turk there were no plans
to widen the current 3-km (2-mile) quarantine zone around the one farm
affected to date.
"All the meat from birds killed in the zone by veterinary teams is
healthy. Well-cooked, it can be eaten," he said.
Bird flu began sweeping through Thai poultry flocks in late 2003, all
but wiping out markets for what was then the world's fourth largest
poultry exporter.
Avian flu is currently transmitted to humans only if they eat or live
in close contact with infected birds.
But scientists say the H5N1 strain is mutating toward a form that could
pass between humans.
As birdflu fears spread, people in Serbia snapped up thousands of face
masks, and in Germany pharmacists were reporting a surge in demand for
Tamiflu and Relenza anti-virals.
Kyprianou said the
European Commission was considering establishing a 1 billion euro
"solidarity fund" to help pay for anti-virals in the event of a
pandemic.
He said the Commission had been in talks with pharmaceutical companies
about boosting the capacity to produce such drugs.
"We advise member states to stockpile anti-virals. It's the first line
of defense. But it's difficult to use them preventively," he told the
news conference.
The World Organization for Animal Health in Paris said 3,673 wild
waterfowl had died in
Iran but the cause was unclear.
In Iran, the veterinary authority said no signs of bird flu had been
discovered. "We don't know the reason," spokesman Behrouz Yasemi said.
"We have quarantined the area."
Bulgaria tested about 30 birds found dead in the country for avian flu
but detected no cases of the disease, officials said.
Greek health authorities were checking a Portuguese-flagged cargo ship
near the port of Piraeus after finding dead and living migratory birds
on board.
(Additional reporting by David Evans in Paris, Parisa Hafezi in Tehran,
Radu Marinas and Martin Dokoupil in Bucharest, Aine Gallagher in
Brussels, Mustafa Yukselbaba and Gareth Jones in Ankara, Patricia
Reaney in London.)
.
- Prev by Date: Re: Union Jack over The Ritz
- Next by Date: Re: socialism and the attenuation of responsibility....turkeys do not vote for christmas...
- Previous by thread: Re: Time fro credit controls
- Next by thread: Re: Deadly Asian bird flu reaches fringes of Europe -- Good Luck
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
