The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned against a recurrence of bird flu, Reem Leila reports The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned countries free of bird flu against the possible reappearance of the disease on 29 August, while the six countries in which the disease is still thought to be endemic, Egypt, Vietnam, China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh, were warned against a possible mutation in the H5N1 strain. According to the FAO statement, wild migrating birds have brought the virus back to virus-free countries, and there is a need for all countries to undertake stricter surveillance in order to control the virus. The six countries in which the disease is still present should also exert efforts to eradicate the virus, since they are experiencing serious problems concerning the structure of the poultry sector and national veterinary services, the FAO said. According to the organisation, China, India and Egypt could need an additional 10 years to eradicate the bird flu virus. "Wild birds are a main source for transferring the virus; however, people's way of dealing with domestic poultry is another serious source for transmitting the virus," said the FAO in a statement. The organisation said that those countries still suffering from the virus usually had complicated systems for producing and marketing poultry, as well as breeding and selling birds. These systems did not provide adequate protection against influenza viruses, the FAO said. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) records, there have been 331 fatalities out of 565 confirmed cases of bird flu worldwide since its first appearance in 2006. The virus has also destroyed a large number of poultry, with birds often being culled to control the spread of the disease. This has led to a loss of more than $12 billion. In Egypt, of the 151 confirmed infections among human patients since 2006, 52 cases did not survive. Since the beginning of 2011, there have been 33 confirmed infections, of which 13 have died. Egypt is rated by the WHO as having one of the highest infection rates of bird flu in the world. Amr Qandil, head of the Preventive Diseases Department at the Health and Population Ministry, said that the percentage of fatalities among those suffering from bird flu had decreased from 55.6 per cent in 2006 to 39.4 per cent in 2011. "The H5N1 virus in Egypt is unlikely to mutate, as it has been endemic since 2006. The ministry is reactivating its surveillance plans and giving special training to doctors and nurses," Qandil said. Tamiflu, the drug of choice in treating bird flu, is available on the market as well as at public hospitals. The country's poultry industry has lost an estimated LE17 billion since 2006 as a result of the epidemic, and more than three million people have lost their jobs. The industry began to revive by mid-2007, and Osama Selim, head of the General Organisation for Veterinary Services, said that the organisation had adopted a plan for 2011-2012 to combat the virus by increasing people's awareness through an advertising campaign and financial incentives. According to Selim, the organisation would start implementing the plan by the beginning of the winter season, considered the time when the virus peaks. The plan aims to control the spread of the virus, urging poultry breeders to sell frozen poultry to encourage people not to purchase live birds. The plan also includes a public-awareness campaign in the media aiming to discourage farmers from breeding poultry at home and explaining the dangers of such habits on the health of family members. "The virus has not yet mutated in poultry, but there has been a mild drift in virus genes. This drift does not impose different health risks on those who deal with live fowl, though it has the same health risks," Selim said. The new strategy depended on a commitment to safety standards on the part of both the general public and state bodies, he said. "Previous plans were relatively successful, as people were not fully aware of the dangers of the virus. Now people have developed an understanding of the virus, better results are expected from the new plan." "At the same time, Egypt has developed a new H5N1 vaccine to combat the virus, and this will be available on the market in the coming few months and will be used to vaccinate poultry by the beginning of December," Selim said.
