Bird flu fight must focus on animal infection
Reuters
May 18, 2006

The fight against the bird flu virus should focus on preventing infection in animals to prevent transmission of the disease to humans, a senior Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official said on Thursday.


The H5N1 virus remains essentially an animal disease, but it has killed 115 people worldwide, the majority in east Asia since 2003. All victims caught the disease through contact with poultry.


Jacques Diouf, FAO director general, said most global funds so far had been earmarked for preventing a human pandemic, rather than limiting bird flu infection among poultry.


"People are stocking Tamiflu and providing services at hospitals, instead of giving priority to the disease which is an animal disease," Diouf told a news conference.


"We agree with the precautionary measures, but the strategy should focus on stopping avian influenza at the level of poultry and birds," he said.

"If we are able to eliminate or at least limit the number of birds that are infected, then we would limit the risk of transmission to human being and other consequences."


In Indonesia, the H5N1 virus has been found in about two-thirds of the country's 33 provinces.


At least 30 people have died of bird flu in Indonesia, the second highest toll of any country. More than half that number have died this year.

A case involving up to seven family members, six of whom have died, has raised alarm around the world because authorities cannot rule out human-to-human transmission.


The global death toll of 115 does not include the latest World Health Organisation confirmed cases in Indonesia.


While the death toll has climbed, the government has resisted mass culling of birds, citing the expense and impracticality in a country where keeping a few chickens or ducks in backyards is common.


Culling at selective farms and their immediate surroundings has been the preferred method.


"We need to strengthen veterinary services in Indonesia, provide them with protective equipment for handling infected birds and develop a compensation programme for those whose poultry are affected," Diouf said.


The organisation has provided $4 million and has been mobilising another $4 million to support Indonesia, he said.