WHO investigates possible human to human transmission of avian flu
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《英国医生杂志》
Hong Kong
The World Health Organization expressed concern this week that the first case of human to human transmission of H5N1 avian influenza may have occurred. Officials are investigating the case of two sisters in Vietnam who died of the disease and who may have contracted it from their brother.
Bob Dietz, WHO's spokesman in Vietnam, said: "There was a considerable delay between the infection of the man and his two sisters, and this anomaly has put a question mark over how they were infected." One of the two sisters is not known to have been in contact with infected poultry, but was in contact with their brother shortly before being taken ill. He died the day after they were taken to hospital, but was cremated without samples being taken from him.
Thai workers retrieve the carcass of a dead chicken from a canal in the Nong Chok district, Bangkok, which was declared a risk area after farmers dumped dead fowl in the water upstream
Credit: EPA/PA
WHO and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization have made an urgent call for international aid to combat the widespread outbreak of H5N1 avian flu across Asia. Culling is seen as crucial to the eradication of the virus, but lack of compensation for farmers makes them reluctant to fully cooperate with the slaughter of their birds.
"As long as small farmers and commercial producers, especially in poorer countries, do not receive an adequate financial incentive for killing their chickens, they will probably not apply suggested emergency measures," said Hans Wagner, senior animal production and health officer.
Together with the Food and Agriculture Organization, WHO is urging donor countries to provide the necessary financial help both to compensate farmers and to protect those culling the birds. "The very minimum required is goggles, masks, and gloves. We are concerned that this protection is not being given," said Peter Cordingley, WHO's spokesman in Manila.
The virus has affected 10 countries in Asia and has infected humans in Vietnam and Thailand. By the end of January more than 25 million birds had been culled but the disease is still spreading rapidly.
In Vietnam, where there have been 13 confirmed cases of human infection and nine deaths, according to hospital officials, the movement of poultry has been banned and the government has set 7 February as the target date for the poultry cull to be completed.
"It's going to be difficult because it's not like the large chicken farms in Holland or South Korea. Vietnam is a nation of small farmers, and chickens are integrated into people's lives as a source of revenue and food," said Mr Dietz.
In Thailand, where three people, including two children, have died of H5N1 avian flu, and where there are at least 10 other suspected deaths and one more confirmed case, there are no signs of the outbreak being brought under control, although the government has stepped up measures on culling, surveillance, and cooperation with WHO. "There has been a real shift," said John Rainford, WHO's spokesman in Thailand. "But let's be clear—the health threat in Thailand is not over."
In China, new outbreaks of the virus in the country's poultry population are being reported almost daily; 80% of poultry in China is raised on household farms and kept near humans. It is estimated that China has as many as nine billion chickens.(Jane Parry)
The World Health Organization expressed concern this week that the first case of human to human transmission of H5N1 avian influenza may have occurred. Officials are investigating the case of two sisters in Vietnam who died of the disease and who may have contracted it from their brother.
Bob Dietz, WHO's spokesman in Vietnam, said: "There was a considerable delay between the infection of the man and his two sisters, and this anomaly has put a question mark over how they were infected." One of the two sisters is not known to have been in contact with infected poultry, but was in contact with their brother shortly before being taken ill. He died the day after they were taken to hospital, but was cremated without samples being taken from him.
Thai workers retrieve the carcass of a dead chicken from a canal in the Nong Chok district, Bangkok, which was declared a risk area after farmers dumped dead fowl in the water upstream
Credit: EPA/PA
WHO and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization have made an urgent call for international aid to combat the widespread outbreak of H5N1 avian flu across Asia. Culling is seen as crucial to the eradication of the virus, but lack of compensation for farmers makes them reluctant to fully cooperate with the slaughter of their birds.
"As long as small farmers and commercial producers, especially in poorer countries, do not receive an adequate financial incentive for killing their chickens, they will probably not apply suggested emergency measures," said Hans Wagner, senior animal production and health officer.
Together with the Food and Agriculture Organization, WHO is urging donor countries to provide the necessary financial help both to compensate farmers and to protect those culling the birds. "The very minimum required is goggles, masks, and gloves. We are concerned that this protection is not being given," said Peter Cordingley, WHO's spokesman in Manila.
The virus has affected 10 countries in Asia and has infected humans in Vietnam and Thailand. By the end of January more than 25 million birds had been culled but the disease is still spreading rapidly.
In Vietnam, where there have been 13 confirmed cases of human infection and nine deaths, according to hospital officials, the movement of poultry has been banned and the government has set 7 February as the target date for the poultry cull to be completed.
"It's going to be difficult because it's not like the large chicken farms in Holland or South Korea. Vietnam is a nation of small farmers, and chickens are integrated into people's lives as a source of revenue and food," said Mr Dietz.
In Thailand, where three people, including two children, have died of H5N1 avian flu, and where there are at least 10 other suspected deaths and one more confirmed case, there are no signs of the outbreak being brought under control, although the government has stepped up measures on culling, surveillance, and cooperation with WHO. "There has been a real shift," said John Rainford, WHO's spokesman in Thailand. "But let's be clear—the health threat in Thailand is not over."
In China, new outbreaks of the virus in the country's poultry population are being reported almost daily; 80% of poultry in China is raised on household farms and kept near humans. It is estimated that China has as many as nine billion chickens.(Jane Parry)