The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu will take several years to contain, the World Health Organization warned yesterday, adding that claims in China that the virus was found in pigs is a worrying new development.
The H5N1 virus has killed 27 people in Asia. A recent outbreak of bird flu in Malaysia -- the first case in this Southeast Asian country -- and flare-ups in Thailand and Vietnam, plus recent claims by Chinese researchers that pigs have the virus indicate that the disease may be entrenched and adapting in parts of Asia.
The discovery in pigs, which are genetically similar to humans, intensifies fears that it could mutate into a version that could lead to human-to-human infections. However, it remains unclear whether the pigs were actually infected with H5N1 or simply had traces on their snouts from snuffling around chicken runs.
Pigs could conceivably become a new host for the virus to mutate, said Shigeru Omi, WHO director for the Western Pacific.
"We don't know how wide this virus is spreading among pigs. Is it only several pigs or many pigs?" Omi told a news conference. "This is a new finding, which we are following up very carefully, but it does not mean that it will immediately cause a pandemic."
Omi said the disease will keep popping up because it "is circulating more widely than we expected among poultry."
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS