- Health Minister Tony Abbott said Australia would be prepared
to close its borders if bird flu caused a global pandemic.
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- It was one of the measures being considered for the Federal
Government's draft plan, Mr Abbott said on arrival home after attending
an international avian flu conference in Canada.
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- The possibility of countries closing borders during an
outbreak was discussed at the meeting, he said.
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- "The best way of ensuring that you don't get infected
with something like this, in the absence of an effective vaccine, would
be isolation," Mr Abbott told ABC radio.
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- "Obviously there would be a place in any isolation
strategy for some kind of restrictions on movement and gathering."
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- Mr Abbott said Australia's plan to meet any such challenge
in the future was constantly changing.
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- "Certainly, all early cases of any pandemic outbreak
of bird flu would receive anti-viral treatment, and, depending on the effectiveness
of the anti-viral treatment, we would then reconsider whether we should
keep using it for (prevention) or instead swing to a treatment strategy,"
he said.
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- He also voiced support for companies stepping up production
of items such as face masks in preparation for an outbreak.
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- "Certainly, I'm pleased to see various companies
that are producing things that might be useful in the event of a pandemic
increasing their production," he said.
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- Mr Abbott said the prevailing view at the conference
was that there was "only about a 10 per cent chance" of a world
bird flu pandemic in the next year.
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- "That's not an insignificant chance - 10-to-one
shots do come home at the races - but on the other hand, they don't always
come home by any means," he said on ABC Radio in Melbourne.
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- He conceded it was possible that a genetic shift in the
current bird flu strain could allow it to be easily transmitted to humans
if the virus persisted in bird populations, but said the risk was still
low.
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- "People ought not get too panic-stricken simply
about bird flu in birds because while it's bad in poultry it's very hard
for humans to catch.
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- "I think people think bird flu in poultry means
that at any moment they could personally catch bird flu.
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- "We've had some 140 million chickens and ducks slaughtered
in South-East Asia over the last 18 months and yet we've only had about
120 human cases," Mr Abbott said.
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- "For a human to catch the current strain of bird
flu, you've got to be in very, very, very close contact with the birds.
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- "Or you've got to eat raw chicken meat or you've
got to drink duck's blood or something that Australians just don't do."
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- http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story
_page/0,5936,17062489%255E421,00.html
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