A new case of bird flu in Vietnam yesterday heightened the sense of urgency for top health and animal experts gathered at a conference in the Southeast Asian nation with the goal of mapping out a long-term strategy for fighting the deadly virus.
Delegates are expected to call for swift action from affected nations and the international community to prevent bird flu from exploding into a global pandemic as the international meeting winded down yesterday.
"We are not expecting commitments in terms of amount of money, but we are for sure having strong recognition that it's a very serious matter which has to be addressed with more investment than before," Joseph Domenech, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) chief of animal health service, said.
Underscoring the growing threat, Vietnam confirmed a 21-year-old man from northern Thai Binh province tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus. He was admitted to the hospital Monday with a high fever, serious lung infection, breathing difficulties and liver failure, said Nguyen Thi Tuong Van of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi.
His 14-year-old sister is also suspected of contracting the disease and her samples are being tested now.
Since Dec. 30, 13 people have died in Vietnam from the bird flu while four others who contracted the virus recovered.
A growing chorus of experts have warned of the impending threat of a global pandemic if the bird flu is not contained. Experts have said the H5N1 virus, which has already killed 45 people from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, could become far more lethal if it mutates into a form that can be easily transmitted among humans.
The re-emergence of outbreaks in Vietnam this year indicated the virus has become entrenched in many parts of the region.
Health and animal officials have acknowledged that complete eradication of bird flu from the region is unlikely in the short term, but they have emphasized there is still time to effectively control the H5N1 virus at its source, ensuring that people and farm animals in Asia are sealed off from infected carriers.
However, it will take a sizeable investment from affected countries and the international community, said FAO officials. At a minimum, about US$100 million would be needed at the outset for beefing up veterinary services such as surveillance and monitoring the disease and providing animal vaccines.
That does not include more long-term costs of poultry restocking, compensation for farmers, or restructuring farming practices.
UN officials have criticized the earlier lack of commitment from affected countries and donors to tackle the outbreak when it surfaced last year.
Only about US$18 million was given by the international community to fund an emergency response -- a "glaringly insufficient" amount, compared to the magnitude of the threat, said Doctor Samuel Jutzi, an official with the FAO.
A long-term approach for controlling the virus will ultimately lie in revamping husbandry practices of Asia's small-scale farmers, many of whom live in close, often unsanitary quarters with their livestock.
‘THEY KILLED HOPE’: Four presidential candidates were killed in the 1980s and 1990s, and Miguel Uribe’s mother died during a police raid to free her from Pablo Escobar Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has died two months after being shot at a campaign rally, his family said on Monday, as the attack rekindled fears of a return to the nation’s violent past. The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former Colombian president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital, Bogota, by a suspected 15-year-old hitman. Despite signs of progress in the past few weeks, his doctors on Saturday announced he had a new brain hemorrhage. “To break up a family is the most horrific act of violence that
HISTORIC: After the arrest of Kim Keon-hee on financial and political funding charges, the country has for the first time a former president and former first lady behind bars South Korean prosecutors yesterday raided the headquarters of the former party of jailed former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol to gather evidence in an election meddling case against his wife, a day after she was arrested on corruption and other charges. Former first lady Kim Keon-hee was arrested late on Tuesday on a range of charges including stock manipulation and corruption, prosecutors said. Her arrest came hours after the Seoul Central District Court reviewed prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant against the 52-year-old. The court granted the warrant, citing the risk of tampering with evidence, after prosecutors submitted an 848-page opinion laying out
North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea’s military said on Saturday, days after Seoul’s new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier. The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense on Monday last week said it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as “a practical measure aimed at helping ease
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS