- In these apocalyptical times, Asians are facing
pestilence
as well as war. Bird flu is back with a vengeance, with 28 people dead
and new outbreaks recorded last week in Thailand and Malaysia. Three
chicken
farmers' children with high fevers are under observation in hospital in
Prachinburi province, eastern Thailand, just days after a teenage
fighting-cock
breeder succumbed to virulent respiratory flu.
-
- Officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO)
caution
that, if unchecked, the H5N1 virus could quickly mutate into a deadly
strain
capable of transmission between humans. The dreaded H5N1 avian flu virus
has already struck five Asian countries, ending a brief summer lull. A
three-year-old boy in Bangkok is also believed to have contracted the
disease.
-
- China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia have
all reported new bird flu outbreaks since July, following an earlier
epidemic
this spring. Quarantines and mass culls of chickens, ducks and other
migratory
fowl have been ordered. Reports that some Malaysians are concealing prized
songbirds to spare them from the mass slaughter have alarmed locals.
-
- Unless efforts are intensified to control its spread,
a global influenza pandemic could wipe out millions of vulnerable people,
as happened in 1918-19, when Spanish flu killed more victims than the Great
War. Mutant bird flu is potentially more deadly than Sars, health officials
have warned. The avian flu virus was detected last month in pet cats and
pigs, renewing worries of virus mutation. "Virtually nobody would
have immunity against the new virus," Dr Shigeru Omi, a WHO official,
warned.
-
- So far, all 39 cases of the bird flu among people were
contracted from Asian poultry. Ten people have survived bird flu infection
and recovered. But human-to-human transmission of the virus is "only
a matter of time," Dr Omi added. "Unless intensified efforts
are made to halt the spread of the virus, a pandemic is very likely to
occur."
-
- Three new bird flu cases were discovered in Northern
Malaysia, all within a 10-km radius of a quarantine area set up last week
in Kelantan province.
-
- Meanwhile, the death of an 18-year-old Thai fighting-cock
breeder last week has panicked the country's other breeders, who are now
demanding controversial flu vaccines for their prize champions, with each
cock worth about £1,000.
-
- Sudarat Keyuraphan, the Thai Health Minister, said the
teenage victim fell sick on 31 August, but had not sought medical help
until 4 September, by which time his illness had developed beyond the point
of recovery. He had nursed his sick birds, bathing them and even sucking
their saliva out with his own mouth to clear their blocked air passages.
This "kiss of life" to resuscitate a flagging cock is a
widespread
practice in Asia, with obvious risks. Bird flu is not transmitted through
eating contaminated meat, but through contact with a bird's infected body
fluids or its breath.
-
- So far all nine of the bird flu victims in Thailand have
been chicken breeders or their family members. In neighbouring Vietnam,
the death toll is 20. Thailand has refused advice to vaccinate poultry
stocks, fearing this might adversely affect its exports of chicken meat.
As the world's fourth-largest exporter of chicken, Thailand still is
reeling
from massive culls during the last outbreak. Compensation for losses was
minimal and some fighting cocks were clandestinely moved outside the
quarantine
zones.
-
- Earlier this month, the Thai prime minister, Thaksin
Shinawatra, hatched a peculiar bilateral trade scheme. His chicken-for-arms
deal proposed exchanging 250,000 tonnes of frozen poultry meat, unsold
because of consumer worries about catching bird flu through food, for
Russian
fighting jets. The proposal could resolve a $36m debt owed by Moscow for
rice purchases in 1990, although Moscow wants only one-fifth of the chicken
stocks. Cheap credit is on offer to any Asian nation willing to buy Thai
poultry, which is now shunned by its biggest customers, the European Union
and Japan.
-
- Mr Shinawatra ordered his ambassador in Moscow to offer
Thai chicken for Russian weapons and promised to consult with military
chiefs on a preferred arms shopping list. A team of Thai Air Force
personnel
visited Russia last month to check out Sukhoi Su-30s, and Bangkok
reportedly
is considering buying six warplanes, worth $200m. Su-30s, together with
MiGs, are the bulwark of the Russian arms trade and Indonesia. Vietnam
and Malaysia regularly snap them up.
-
- ©2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd. All rights
reserved
-
- http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=561019
|
