World unprepared for Bird Flu by UN News / AP / AFP / Jakarta Post 5:25pm 18th Jan, 2006   Paris, February 20, 2006    Bird flu virus found in France, Iran, India. (AFP)    The H5N1 bird flu virus has been identified for the first time in France, Iran and India, while Nigeria said it was bringing the disease under control.    The French Government said all containment measures were already in place as it announced that tests on a wild duck found dead in the central-eastern Ain department confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic strain of the virus.    Six member states of the European Union have now confirmed the presence of the potentially lethal strain of the virus to humans.    Fears about the first H5N1 outbreak in France, Europe"s largest poultry producer, led the Government to take preventive steps and order all poultry and tame birds to be kept indoors, and all farm ducks and geese to be vaccinated in three departments on the Atlantic coast.    In India, a man has died of suspected bird flu in the western part of the country, an official said. "A poultry farm owner died on Friday in Surat district. Local tests have confirmed bird flu but we have sent samples to the national laboratory. A final report is awaited," Vatsala Vasudev, the top district administrator of Surat in western Gujarat state, said. State Government officials said a laboratory had confirmed the country"s first outbreak of the virus in chickens after 50,000 birds died.    Meanwhile, Iran said 135 wild swans found dead at the Caspian Sea coast have tested positive for H5N1, the first cases of the virus to be confirmed in the Islamic republic.    Indonesia confirmed its 19th death from bird flu, a 23-year-old man who worked for a chicken vendor, as the Health Minister vowed to boost stockpiles of the Tamiflu anti-viral drug.    The world"s fourth most populous nation has now reported eight fatalities from H5N1 this year alone, the highest figure globally. The virus has claimed about 90 lives, mostly in Asia, since late 2003.    The virus is spreading in Austria, affecting a swan in the capital Vienna and a duck in a neighbouring village, officials said.    At the same time it has been detected in 28 more dead birds on a German island where 13 were found earlier this week, the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Pomerania"s Agriculture Minister, Till Backhaus, said. German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer warned yesterday that about 80 birds in all had been tested for avian influenza and more positive results could be expected.    Officials in Nigeria said yesterday that its bird flu crisis was slowly coming under control, 11 days after Africa"s first outbreak of the virus.    Bird flu has been confirmed in three northern states but there have been several suspected outbreaks in other states.    10/02/2006    EU to help Nigeria fight bird flu. (Ireland Online)    The European Union today said it was following closely the bird flu outbreak in northern Nigeria and was readying millions of euros of aid for Nigeria to help fight the spread of the disease.    EU spokesman Philip Tod said EU experts “are remaining in close contact” with officials in Nigeria, and with UN agencies, like the Food and Agriculture Organization, which are helping fight the outbreak there.    “The (European) Commission is concerned about the outbreaks in northern Nigeria,” he said, adding the EU was in talks with the 76-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific group on an EU pledge of €30m it was giving to them to help prevent the spread of the disease.    “That aid is yet to be agreed by the ACP countries. We certainly expect Nigeria to benefit from part of these funds, to help them in their fight of this disease,” said Tod.    Nigerian poultry farmers today called for more compensation for those whose flocks have been hit by the bird flu, the first known outbreak in Africa.    The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed on Wednesday and yesterday in three of Nigeria’s 36 states, all in the north of Africa’s most populous nation.    The disease has killed some 100,000 Nigerian birds so far.    Tod also said the European Commission expected Greece to apply EU recommendations to ensure an outbreak of an H5 strain of the flu found in three wild swans does not spread.    Experts at the EU’s reference library in Weybridge were trying to determine whether the birds had the deadly H5N1 strain, as found in Turkey.    Greek authorities have already instructed poultry farmers to keep their birds indoors or in coops, and have banned the sale of live birds in street markets.    Tod said Greek authorities also had to adopt “safeguard measures,” including a ban of transport of farmed poultry in the zone where the three cases were found as well as increased surveillance of all birds near the affected area.    “Movements of poultry from the affected area to other holdings or for slaughter will be subjected to rigorous additional controls,” said a statement issued by the Commission.    “We have to work on the assumption that the avian influenza virus could be spread by wild birds, so we should not be unduly surprised or alarmed if such cases are found in the European Union,” EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said in a statement.    “What is important is that we have the framework in place to take the appropriate measures as soon as possible to contain it and prevent its spread to poultry, and that is what we are doing.”    18 January 2006    UN bird flu coordinator hails pledges of $1.9 billion to avert pandemic. (UN News)    The head of the UN effort to combat the spread of the deadly bird flu virus today warmly welcomed donor pledges of $1.9 billion to fight the disease made at an international conference in China.    “Quite extraordinary,” was how David Nabarro, the UN System’s Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, described an amount that was much more than the $1.4 billion he had previously said was needed to combat the spread of a disease that in humans has already led to 79 deaths globally.    “What we’ve seen today is that the world really does care and wants to respond effectively to the threat of avian influenza and a possible human pandemic,” Dr. Nabarro was quoted as saying by a UN spokesman in New York.    Donors have been gathering over the past two days at the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza in Beijing to raise funds to fight the disease. In a message aired at the conference earlier today, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said there must be a coordinated international response.    “To be truly prepared, we will need to mount a massive effort – from upgrading veterinary systems and launching vaccination drives, to encouraging change in the ways people coexist with animals,” Mr. Annan said, pointing out that the cost of action now was small compared to the price of tackling a pandemic.    In his video message, Mr. Annan also called for sharing of information, biological material and scientific expertise, providing essential medicines to those in need, and galvanizing international efforts “with a minimum of red tape and quibbling.”    Pledging the UN"s full support for this effort, he said: “I have asked all parts of the United Nations system to have contingency plans in place, so that we can sustain vital support, if and when a human pandemic does erupt.    “I encourage all Governments to do the same,” the Secretary-General added. “There is no time to waste.”    Echoing the urgency of the situation, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today it was particularly concerned about the possible spread of the avian influenza virus to Africa, adding it could also become “entrenched in the Black Sea, Caucasus and Near East” through trade and the movement of people, animals and birds.    “In Turkey the virus has already reached the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, and there is a real risk of further spread. If it were to become rooted in the African countryside, the consequences for a continent already devastated by hunger and poverty could be truly catastrophic,” FAO Deputy Director-General David Harcharik told the Beijing conference.    Also at the China meeting, Shafqat Kalakhel, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said the emergence of avian flu as a threat to people reflected the fact that humans were now more intensively interacting with the natural environment. As such, he called for looking at how the virus behaves in wild birds and also at other related environmental issues as part of the overall strategy against the disease.    During the past two years, six countries have reported outbreaks of avian influenza caused by the H5N1 virus in people. More than 140 million chickens have been slaughtered to try and contain the disease but this has caused massive economic hardship to farmers while spreading fear in their communities.    So far, the virus has only spread from infected animals to humans, however the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that it could change into a form that spreads easily from person to person, triggering an influenza pandemic which could kill tens of millions of people worldwide.    In humans, treatment with antiviral medicines is one way to reduce death and illness. WHO has been building up drug stockpiles at different locations worldwide for quick distribution in case of emergency.    “There must be visible improvement in control of avian influenza and pandemic preparedness by countries, technical agencies, and all others involved,” Dr. Lee Jong-wook, WHO Director-General, warned the delegates in his opening remarks in Beijing.    January 18, 2006. (Agence France Presse)    United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has warned the world is not yet ready to combat a bird flu pandemic. He has also called for a "tremendous effort" in stepping up preparations.    "There"s no time to waste. Lets ensure we"re ready. We are not yet there," Mr Annan said in a speech to an international bird flu donors conference in Beijing. "To be truly prepared we would need to mount a tremendous effort."    The two-day International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza, which wraps up later today, is aiming to secure $A2 billion in funding to implement a three-year plan to fight bird flu.    Mr Annan says the funding being sought would help save much greater costs if the bird flu crisis, which has already killed around 80 people since 2003, escalates into a global pandemic.    "Our effort requires resources. The amount asked for is small compared to the costs," he said. Mr Annan also emphasises the need for governments and bureaucracies around the world to cut down on red tape and unite to share technical expertise.    He says he has asked all parts of the UN system to have contingency plans in place in case of a pandemic, and advised all countries to do the same.    Most of the bird flu deaths that have occurred since 2003 have been in South-East Asia and China.    However the virus has spread through the Middle East and into Europe over the past year, killing four teenagers in Turkey this month.    Scientists fear that the more the virus spreads, the greater the chance H5N1 will mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans.    This could spark a global pandemic that could claim tens of millions of lives.    Jan. 18, 2006    Annan urges all nations to prepare for influenza pandemic . (The Jakarta Post)    Beijing (DPA): UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday urged all governments to prepare for a possible avian influenza pandemic, saying he had asked all United Nations agencies to make similar preparations.    Annan said he had asked the UN bodies to be ready "so that we can sustain vital support" in the event of a pandemic.    "I encourage all governments to do the same," he said in a speech broadcast to a donors" conference being held in Beijing that aims to secure funding to help poor countries cope with the economic impact of bird flu.    "There is no time to waste, let"s ensure that we are ready," Annan told the conference, which he said was held at a "crucial time" in the fight against bird flu.    Worldwide, 80 people have died from H5N1, according to WHO. At least 12 were in Indonesia, five were in China and therest were in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Turkey.    World Health Organization (WHO) experts have warned that the H5N1 bird flu virus could mutate into a form that spreads rapidly among humans.    China, the European Union, World Bank and other organizers said they hope to see pledges of financial aid totalling more than 1 billion dollars at the conference.    "Today action will speak louder than words," EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said. Kyprianou said the pledges of donations were "not just charity... but a global self-defence against bird flu", adding that the virus persented a "new challenge to humanity."    "We don"t know when this pandemic will take place, but that is no reason for not preparing for it," he said. "The avian influenza threat is not going to go away soon."    WHO Director-General Lee Jong-Wook said the WHO had developed a strategy for improving monitoring and control of bird flu over the next two years. "Each new case and each new outbreak is a chance to fine-tune the approach," Lee said. "We have to reduce people"s exposure to the virus."    The World Bank will provide US$500 billion in "global adaptable programme loans" for fighting bird flu, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said in a speech broadcast at the conference.    The bank estimates that at least $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion will be needed over the next three years to combat bird flu.    Before the conference, the European Union pledged $97 million to help poor countries with the impact of the virus.    Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday told the conference that China would donate $10 million.    January 18, 2006    $1.9-billion pledged to fight bird flu, by Margie Mason. (Associated Press)    Beijing — The UN and the World Bank told international donors Wednesday they must prepare for a potential flu pandemic that could kill millions worldwide and result in economic costs far greater than the $1.5-billion (U.S.) now needed.    “The decisions you make today will shape the ways we work together. There"s no time to waste. Let"s ensure that we are ready,” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a taped address on the second day of a funding conference in Beijing.    The urgency of the situation, underlined by the spread of bird flu from Asia to Europe, spurred many countries to increase their original commitments, with a U.S. official saying it looked as though total pledges had surpassed even the World Bank"s expectations.    “It appears they are going to get well over $1.9-billion,” Nancy Powell, the U.S. co-ordinator for health, science and the environment, told reporters after attending the pledging session.    Sources from international agencies at the conference earlier said informal commitments had exceeded $1.7-billion.    The United States will pledge $334-million to help fight the H5N1 virus and to help prepare for a potential pandemic, Ms. Powell told reporters.    She also said the U.S. will invest billions of dollars over the next three years to develop a human vaccine, and in improving its capacity to develop flu vaccines in general.    China, which has reported eight human infections, five of which have been fatal, said it would donate $10-million.    Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao also promised that China would work with the international community and be open and forthcoming with information and samples of the virus.    World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said through a taped message the bank would make $500-million available through a loan.    The bank and the United Nations have estimated up to $1.5-billion will be needed over the next three years to tackle the threat in poor countries. International donors were expected to make their pledges later Wednesday.    “Money is not the only answer, but without it nothing can be done,” said Dr. Lee Jong-wook, director-general of the World Health Organization.    Bird flu has killed at least 79 people in Asia and Turkey since 2003. Health experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily from person to person, possibly sparking a pandemic that kills millions. So far, most human cases have been traced to contact with infected birds.    The UN"s Food and Agriculture Organization said that fighting bird flu in poultry was the best way to prevent the likelihood of a human flu pandemic.    “Avian flu should not be considered as a human health issue, but as a human and animal health issue,” said FAO head David Harcharik.    Turkish officials have recently reported 21 human bird flu cases, including four deaths, although the WHO has only confirmed two fatalities so far. The outbreaks have led to a greater urgency for the European Union to help stop the virus from spreading.    On Tuesday, EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said the EU had increased its commitment to $121-million, about $20-million more than it announced last week. The 25 member states were also expected to pledge about $120-million in total, he said.    “Never before has humankind had a window of opportunity to prepare for the event of a pandemic before it actually happens,” he said Wednesday. “And now we know what needs to be done.”    The funding conference, co-sponsored by the World Bank, European Commission and the Chinese government, follows a global bird flu co-ordination meeting held two months ago in Geneva, which brought together participants from 100 countries.
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