Fresh bird flu outbreak in China Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:54 AM ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported another outbreak of avian flu in poultry, Croatia confirmed it in wild swans and India tested blood samples from 10 dead migratory birds. Croatia said on Wednesday tests confirmed the H5N1 bird flu virus in swans found dead last week, taking further into Europe the lethal strain that surfaced in South Korea two years ago and most recently spread west to Turkey, Romania and Russia. Germany and Greece were also testing dead birds.
There has been a spate of fresh cases in Asia too, where 62 people have died after close contact with birds, ahead of the northern winter when H5N1 seems to thrive, experts say.
Scientists believe migratory birds escaping south are spreading it and governments around the world are nervously monitoring borders and testing arriving wild birds.
In China's third case of H5N1 since last week, hundreds of chickens and ducks died in a village in central Hunan province. Beijing had notified the United Nations on Tuesday, according to a notice on the Web site of the World Organization for Animal Health. "Although bird flu cases have been found in some villages in five provinces because of the spread of migratory birds, the whole situation is under control. There are no human cases," Xinhua news agency quoted Health Minister Gao Qiang as saying.
China reported another outbreak among farm geese in the eastern province of Anhui on Tuesday and said it, too, had been brought under control with no reported human infections. Gao said the world's most populous nation, where billions of poultry live close to farmers' homes, was monitoring effectively, reporting transparently and had adopted strict quarantine measures.
CONSUMER FEARS
Massive culls of birds in affected areas is one preventative measure. Croatia has now killed at least 27,000 poultry. The World Health Organization says H5N1 has so far infected 121 people in four southeast Asian nations, killing one in two. Most catch it by handling sick birds or their droppings.
Scientists' greatest fear is that H5N1 will mutate into a form that will pass easily among people, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions and hamper the global economy. So far, there has been no such mutation and H5N1 is hard to catch. The European Union's executive said consumers faced no risk from eggs or poultry after flu fears slashed demand.
However, experts say the world is overdue for a human flu pandemic, which emerges roughly every three decades on average. Pandemics hit in 1918 -- killing up to 40 million people globally -- and again in 1957 and 1968.
In India, officials are trying to find out what killed 10 dead migratory birds in West Bengal. Forest officials said around 40 dead open-bill stork chicks had been found in one of the state's five bird sanctuaries but could have died after falling from their nests during a storm. Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said India had no known cases of bird flu and 10,000 tests so far had come up negative.
ECONOMIC COSTS
With thousands of migratory birds -- some from China -- due in coming weeks, New Delhi is bracing for cases and will stockpile Tamiflu, he said, but added India could force domestic companies to make the antiviral avian flu drug in an emergency.
If migratory birds are spreading the virus, Africa and the Americas can expect cases. Experts say detecting and controlling the virus could prove a Herculean task in Africa, a continent with poor infrastructure and limited resources.
In Thailand, where 13 people have died of bird flu, the government has reactivated a network of almost a million health monitors to try to halt the spread of the disease after new outbreaks in poultry were confirmed in five provinces.
As the virus spreads, world governments are refining plans to tackle a pandemic and cope with the huge potential costs in human lives, trade and economic output. The Asian Development Bank says even a relatively mild pandemic could cost Asia up to $110 billion from the effects of reduced consumption, investment and trade.
