03 November 2005

U.N. Group Sees Controlling Poultry as Key in Avian Flu Effort, November 3, 2005

(Eliminating H5N1 in poultry might prevent mutation to human virus)

By Judy Aita
Washington File Special Correspondent

United Nations -- Officials at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are optimistic that eliminating avian flu in poultry can delay or prevent the transformation of the virus into a strain that can cause a human pandemic.

Louise Fresco, FAO assistant director-general for agriculture, said November 3 that even though the problem is complex and urgent, the tools and know-how are available to bring the virus under control in domestic birds.

Speaking at a meeting on avian flu in the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Fresco said, "The message I bring to you today is one of mild optimism.  FAO believes that eliminating avian influenza among poultry can delay or prevent transformation of the H5N1 virus into a form that could create a human pandemic."

"The window of opportunity is now to stop the virus in poultry before it mutates into a virus that could be passed from human to human," she said.

CONTAINING THE VIRUS

FAO believes it is possible to contain the virus in domestic poultry, the agency official said.  "The success of efforts will hinge on collaboration, transparency, information sharing, disease tracking, sharing the virus strain and strengthening national veterinary services."

FAO's approach involves three steps:  implementing biosecurity measures at the farm and market level to prevent the disease; improving the capacity for disease surveillance and detection; and, once the disease is detected, acting "immediately ...  to stamp out its spread," she said.

"We know how to do it.  We should not panic," Fresco said.  "We know how to isolate poultry.  We know what hygiene is about.  There are effective vaccines [for poultry]. We know how to manage it.  We know where to go when necessary."

Fresco and other FAO and World Health Organization (WHO) officials pointed out that there are several instances in which countries have been able to bring the disease under control.

After the avian flu epidemic was detected in poultry in 1997 in Hong Kong and 18 people were affected, action was taken to cull and dispose of the diseased poultry population and incidents of transmission to humans ended.  In the Netherlands, a different strain of avian virus in turkeys was responsible for human cases, and the same approach recommended by FAO stopped the outbreak, the officials said.

More than 150 million birds have been infected by H5N1 or killed since 1997 and there have been just more than 100 cases in humans, Fresco noted.

"It is not a desperate case," Fresco said. 

FUTURE RESEARCH

More research is needed to find ways to administer the vaccine to chickens and domestic ducks other than through injections, which are hard to manage on small farms in poor regions and involve mutations, she said.

The virus cannot be contained in wild birds, which are playing a major role in the transmission of the virus from Southeast Asia through the West Siberian lowlands into Europe, Fresco said.

FAO has predicted that because it is cold tolerant, the H5N1 strain might find its way into the Middle East, North Africa and East and West Africa, she said.  "At this point in time we cannot say there is any part of the world, including the Americas, that could be completely safe."

The emphasis on the wild birds "has to be on tracking these birds, tracking the virus spread, and trying to contain the virus where possible," she said.

The effort is not without cost, Fresco said.  FAO estimates that about $425 million will be needed to combat avian flu at the farm level with about half of the amount needed for increased preparedness and surveillance. 

So far $30 million has been raised through pledges from the United States, Australia, France, German, Japan, the Netherlands and Switzerland, she said.

The international community must rally around a set of priorities for handling the potential crisis, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said November 3 at a global health summit in New York City.

That includes "compensating farmers and families fairly and properly for the culling of their birds, which, for so many communities around the world, are a desperately important source of economic security," Annan said.  "If they are not compensated, they are not going to tell you when their birds are sick."

For additional information, see Bird Flu (Avian Influenza).