- (AFP) -- Bird flu claimed another fatality in Vietnam,
as the World Health Organization said China faced a "formidable"
task in bringing under control the disease that has killed 19 people in
Asia.
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- The warning came amid growing concern that an abnormal
number of poultry deaths in Cambodia suggested the kingdom's outbreak of
avian influenza was far more widespread than the authorities have acknowledged.
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- China has categorically denied it has covered up the
extent of its bird flu outbreak, but Henk Bekedam, the WHO's representative
to the country, said the authorities might not have a complete picture
of the epidemic.
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- Beijing has also insisted that there are no human infections,
but Bekedam said this could not be ruled out given the scale of the outbreaks.
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- "WHO feels it is conceivable that there may be human
cases, given the extent of the outbreaks in poultry," he said.
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- His comments came as state media reported four new suspected
bird flu outbreaks, taking China's outbreak tally to 19 confirmed and 19
suspected cases in 14 of the country's 31 provincial-level regions.
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- "We believe the Chinese government is fully aware
of the formidable challenge it faces, and is deeply committed to reversing
the situation," Bekedam said.
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- Health officials in Vietnam's southern metropolis of
Ho Chi Minh City said Asia's latest victim, a 27 year-old man from Binh
Phuoc province, died early Monday after being admitted to the Hospital
for Tropical Disease on Thursday.
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- A 30 year-old man from neighbouring Lam Dong province
was taken to the same hospital the following day and also tested positive
for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu. Doctors said he was
in stable condition.
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- In human terms, Vietnam is the worst hit of the 10 Asian
nations and the United States currently tackling outbreaks of bird flu.
Thailand, where five people had died, is the only other country with confirmed
human infections.
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- In total 19 Vietnamese have been infected with H5N1,
14 of whom have died. Two others have made a complete recovery but three
remain hospitalised.
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- The World Health Organization has warned that H5N1 could
kill millions across the globe if it combined with a human influenza virus
to create a new, highly contagious strain transmissible among humans.
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- "We are in a situation where people have become
infected with H5N1 but we haven't crossed the threshold into this new threat
level," said Bob Dietz, the WHO's spokesman in Vietnam.
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- Meanwhile, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak
said Monday that Japan, the largest market for its 1.2 billion-dollar poultry
export business, would send a team of experts to the kingdom this week
to test its chickens.
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- The country has eradicated all but one of its 163 outbreaks
of the H5N1 virus, which had been reported in more than half of its 76
provinces, including Bangkok, where the remaining outbreak is located.
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- "I believe Thailand will be the first Asian nation
to eradicate this disease," Somkid said.
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- But as Thailand appeared to be bringing bird flu under
control, concern was escalating over the situation in Cambodia after authorities
announced on Sunday that a 24-year-old female farmer had died last week
with bird flu symptoms.
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- Cambodia, wedged between the two countries, has only
identified three contaminated areas, all within the vicinity of the capital
Phnom Penh.
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- Numerous small-scale farmers have also reported suspicious
poultry deaths across the impoverished country, according to local press
reports.
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- "The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) in
Cambodia does not have the means to know the extent of the epidemic,"
Jean-Claude Levasseur, the UN agency's representative in Cambodia, told
AFP.
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- In the United States, agriculture officials said they
would carry out tests this week on other farms in Delaware state following
the cull of around 12,000 chickens on one farm after a non-lethal strain
of bird flu was found.
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- As a precautionary measure Japan, Malaysia, Singapore
and South Korea slapped temporary import bans on all US poultry over the
weekend, while Hong Kong banned poultry imports from the northeastern American
state.
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- Malaysia, which has so far escaped the disease, said
Monday that a scare over the country's first possible human case was a
false alarm.
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- The government, however, said veterinary and other enforcement
agencies were on high alert to prevent any outbreaks of the disease.
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- Meanwhile, the Philippines, which has so far remained
free of bird flu, destroyed more than 300 lovebirds imported from Europe
because they had passed through Thailand.
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