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Taiwan prepared to fight flu pandemic: NSC chief

A WHO adviser believes Taiwan is well-prepared to fight a potential pandemic caused by the H5N1 avian flu virus, National Science Council Chairman Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday.

"We got a score of 70 points, higher than the median score of 57 among the 28 countries around the world that [Richard] Coker has reviewed and assessed," Chen said.

The Department of Health had invited Coker, a noted British bird flu expert and adviser to the WHO, to Taipei earlier this month to evaluate the flu prevention mechanisms and strategies, Chen said.

Chen, an epidemiologist by training, also serves as convener of a supraministerial flu prevention task force. He made the remarks after presiding over a review meeting on Wednesday on the precautionary measures that have been taken to prevent an outbreak of H5N1 flu.

Among the steps Taiwan has adopted is setting up nets around all pig and poultry farms nationwide to prevent wild birds from passing the flu virus to hogs and poultry, Chen said. By the end of the month, nets will have been set up at nearly 85 percent of the farms, he said.

Feces samples collected from great cormorants that converge for the winter on Taiwan's outlaying islands did not contain the H5N1 virus, indicating that Taiwan remains H5N1 free, he said.

Local health authorities using the WHO's criteria ranked Taiwan's preparedness higher than Coker did, Chen said, adding that they gave Taiwan a score of 80 to 85 points.

He said the government needs to determine how many volunteers and retirees could be recruited in the event of a flu pandemic and whether government funds would be needed for post-pandemic rehabilitation efforts.

Meanwhile, the National Health Research Institute has been working on developing a bird flu vaccine since August 2005 and has collected H5N1 culture samples from patients in Vietnam for the development of a vaccine.

By the end of last year, the researchers had finished preparation of the H5N1 vaccine and found that in experiments on small animals the vaccine could induce protective antibodies.

The top goal for the research program this year is getting approval for clinical tests of the vaccine on humans so that the tests can begin next year.
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