Animal health crucial in bird flu battle

WASHINGTON - Most governments are working quickly to attack avian flu when it pops up among birds but the virus is now entrenched in at least three countries, the United Nations and World Bank reported on Thursday.

And domestic animals can act as a "time bomb," providing a place for the virus to hide and change, potentially into a pandemic strain, the U.N.'s top bird flu official said.

The H5N1 avian influenza virus has now been reported in 60 countries since 2003, according to the report. It has killed 206 out of 335 people infected and could mutate into a form at any time that would easily spread from person to person, killing tens of millions.

But the report says most countries had taken the threat seriously and were building up the infrastructure needed to fight outbreaks.

"The efforts of thousands of good men and women are starting to pay off," U.N. bird flu coordinator Dr. David Nabarro told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Nabarro said much more needs to be done.

"Highly pathogenic avian influenza is currently entrenched in Indonesia, Egypt and Nigeria, and possibly in some locations in China and Bangladesh," the report reads...


Via Reuters

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