More bird flu deaths as experts seek funds
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Bird flu experts meeting in Beijing said on Tuesday the world urgently needed to amass a war chest of up to $1.4 billion to fight the deadly virus and prepare nations should a pandemic strain emerge.
Underscoring that urgency, Indonesia’s health ministry said a toddler who died on Tuesday was being tested for bird flu days after his 13-year-old sister died of the H5N1 virus, according to local tests. A surviving sister is also being tested.
Turkey said on Monday a fourth young person had died of avian flu, as authorities slaughtered tens of thousands of birds to try to contain the outbreak. Neighboring nations feared the virus might spread.
“There is a significant shortfall of funds in many affected countries ... which will seriously hamper their prevention and control efforts,” Qiao Zonghuai, Chinese vice foreign minister, told the donors’ conference in Beijing.
“In the fight against avian influenza, no country can stay safe by looking the other way,” he said.
Bird flu has killed at least 79 people since 2003 and has now arrived at the gates of Europe and the Middle East.
While difficult for people to catch, nearly 150 people are known to have been infected by H5N1 in six countries, killing more than half its victims, a death rate that reinforced fears about the havoc the virus could wreak if a pandemic occurs.
“It is going more and more toward the western part of the world,” Food and Agriculture Organization Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech told Reuters in Beijing.
“If the mobilization of the funds is not coming immediately, in a couple of months we’ll need more money.”
FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY
The World Bank estimates that between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion will be needed to prepare for and respond to outbreaks. The Bank has estimated that a bird flu pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to $800 billion.
A senior World Health Organization official told delegates the risks from a bird flu pandemic were great.
“Timing is unpredictable and the severity is uncertain,” Margaret Chan, the WHO’s top pandemic expert, told the conference, attended by delegates from 89 countries and more than 20 international organizations.
The Bank approved a $500 million line of credit last week toward the $1.2 billion target and the European Union has pledged $100 million in aid. More significant pledges are expected.
H5N1 is already endemic across parts of Asia and has been found in wild birds and poultry over a third of Turkey.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish consumers on Tuesday it was safe to eat chicken.
“There is no need to worry about consuming poultry and eggs that have been produced in industrial conditions,” Erdogan told a gathering of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“There is no advantage in harming our poultry sector which employs thousands of people. It is very important for Turkey to remain calm,” he said.
Poultry sales have plunged since the latest outbreak of avian flu in Turkey was reported in late December, although experts say chicken and eggs pose no health threat to human beings if properly cooked.
Turkish officials said the country had recorded a total of 20 human cases, including the four deaths, in two weeks.
Turkish authorities have culled around a million birds over the past two weeks to try to contain the crisis. The Agriculture Ministry had imposed a nationwide ban on the transit of poultry.
IRAN AND CAUCASUS
Turkey’s neighbors were also under threat, experts said.
“The Caucasus region and Iran are countries where the usual trade movements are bringing very high risk of contamination. So the surveillance in these countries has to be intensified,” the FAO’s Domenech said.
With donors and lending agencies focused on ramping up the fight against bird flu, there have been concerns that money might be drawn from other health programs.
“My argument is, whatever resources you put in place, compared to the possible economic loss in the event of a pandemic, is peanuts,” the WHO’s Chan told reporters in Beijing.
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