- LONDON - The bird flu virus
that has arrived in Europe poses an unprecedented threat, with experts
warning that the number of human infections reported in Asia could be just
a small proportion of the actual figure.
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- One of Britain's leading specialists in influenza said
a pandemic strain of bird flu that can spread between humans is more likely
to arise as more birds become infected.
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- Sir John Skehel, a distinguished influenza expert, said
that in his experience there has not been a bird flu virus quite like the
H5N1 strain that is affecting south-east Asia, Turkey and Romania. 'This
is an unusual situation,' Sir John admitted. 'Since we've been recording
there hasn't been the spread of a single virus as widely as the H5 virus.'
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- The World Health Organisation said that the current outbreaks
of bird flu in south-east Asia are the largest and most severe on record.
'Never before in the history of this disease have so many countries been
simultaneously affected, resulting in the loss of so many birds,' a WHO
spokesman said.
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- In addition to the speed of its spread among birds, the
H5N1 strain of bird flu can also infect humans and is unusually lethal,
Sir John told journalists ahead of a mission of British experts to China
and Vietnam next week. Thousands of birds "migratory species as well
as domestic poultry " have been infected by the H5N1 strain of bird
flu, which is also known to have infected at least 120 people, killing
half of them.
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- So far there have been no reports of people in Turkey
or Europe being infected by the latest outbreaks but Sir John warned that
the risk to Europeans has increased 'slightly'.
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- Sir John, director of the National Institute for Medical
Research, in Mill Hill, north London, where the influenza virus was first
isolated in 1933, said that one of the great unanswered questions was how
many people are really infected with the bird flu virus.
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- 'How are people checking in the Far East for people who
have recovered from the infection?' he asked. 'Are the total number of
people who have been infected the tip of the iceberg and, beneath them,
are there are a lot of others who have been infected? It is an important
question.'
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- Sir John warned that trying to predict when and where
the next flu pandemic would occur was a dangerous game. 'I think it is
anybody's guess,' he said. 'The more it spreads, the more it is likely
to infect ... You just can't predict where the next one is coming from.'
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- The British delegation to China and Vietnam will investigate
the measures being taken to monitor the spread of H5N1 and in particular
the possibility that some people may be infected without developing serious
enough symptoms to seek medical help.
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- They will spend 10 days looking at ways to improving
collaboration with scientists in China as well as increasing the surveillance
of potentially infected birds.
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- Sir John said: 'We want to know how the Chinese are responding,
how they are looking at their birds, how they are looking at their people,
how they are set up and are there ways we can help.'
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- Professor Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical
Research Council, said announcing the decision to go to China and Vietnam
was not a panic response to the latest outbreaks in Europe because the
trip was arranged many weeks ago. 'Vigilance and attention without panic
is what we need,' he said, adding: 'We've been planning this trip for some
time.'
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- In a statement to MPs, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt
said £200m had been committed to fighting the illness and, as yet,
there was no 'direct threat' to the British population. But she added:
'We are of course planning for the very real risk of a very significant
increase in the number of hospital admissions.'
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article320369.ece
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