H.S. For Sunday 010508

Bird Flu Watch Continues

Hey folks

As you know I’ve been doing a continuing series on the Bird Flu. This is something that is lurking out there that DOES pose a very real threat, that it seems very few people seem to be aware of. According to USA Today last Monday.

Bird flu still a threat 10 years after leap to humans

In Hong Kong, when a mysterious avian flu virus jumped from poultry to people for the first time, killing six of the 18 people infected, world health experts sounded the alarm. They warned that the stage was set for a global flu pandemic.

That was 10 years ago, and the virus, known as H5N1, has not yet changed in a way that would allow it to spread easily from person to person. But health experts say the danger has not diminished.

"It is still a threat as long as we have transmission in poultry," says flu expert Arnold Monto of the University of Michigan. "We have absolutely no precedent of having had this transmit in the bird population in so many different places, and having, almost every week, reports of another human case."

Does this NOT mean it’s GROWING. Becoming more common?

Among the most recent infections in people reported by the World Health Organization was the death of a man in Indonesia Dec. 13 and the first case in Burma, also known as Myanmar, in a child who was hospitalized in November and has recovered. The first confirmed case in Pakistan involved the death of a 25-year-old man Nov. 28 whose brother, a veterinarian, became sick after culling infected poultry. The vet, whose infection with H5N1 is suspected but not confirmed, recovered.

What does THAT mean? If he is alive and still a vet, he has recovered. If you cannot find him, then, chances are he didn’t. “The vet, whose infection with H5N1 is suspected but not confirmed, recovered.” Do you not think you should find out? I know, they are trying to NOT cause panic. However, why not CONFIRM his status.

In 1997, officials in Hong Kong, hoping to stamp out the virus, ordered all chickens in the territory, more than 1 million, to be slaughtered. That action, led by the city's health director, Margaret Chan, who is now director-general of WHO, appeared to work, and the virus receded. But it re-emerged in China in 2003 and began to spread.

Since 2003, WHO has confirmed 346 infections in 14 countries, and 213 deaths.

The virus has traveled far: It has turned up in countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, says Tim Uyeki, a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Just in 2007, we've seen the first reports of human cases in Laos, Nigeria and Burma," he says. "Cases tend to coincide with poultry outbreaks and spike in winter," he says, "so it would not be surprising to see cases increasing."

If it is spreading, then one could make the logical assumption that it CAN happen here.

Uyeki says the highly pathogenic form of H5N1 has never turned up in North America in wild birds, poultry or people. And because of heightened awareness of the pandemic threat, governments around the world have started to prepare.

"There has been a lot of progress in this area, but more needs to be done," Uyeki says. "We need much better collaboration, communication and sustained funding for strengthening of both animal health surveillance and public health surveillance."

Scientists are monitoring strains of the ever-evolving virus so if it does become easily contagious, pandemic preparations can move into high gear.

WHY WAIT?

Indonesia has the most cases: 116 people infected, of whom 94 have died. But health officials there have balked at sharing virus samples, believing they could be used to create a vaccine the country might not be able to afford. "WHO, in recognition of this problem, is trying to address this issue," Monto says, "But there has not been a satisfactory conclusion."

Meanwhile, Uyeki says, preparedness for a flu pandemic should not stop.

"The risk continues, people continue to be infected, we've had new countries affected and the mortality rate is higher than 60%," he says. "Though human infection with H5N1 is rare, especially compared with seasonal flu that causes 36,000 deaths each year in the USA," he says, "the pandemic threat is ongoing."

I understand what he is saying, but that number of the flu deaths is somewhat misleading. At lease key information is missing. Who, What, Where, When and How, being the most obvious. Right NOW is when we should be moving into high gear on this. While the threat is low. We have the money in many areas that is being wasted. Lets move that money to find a way to treat this more effectively, if not find an outright cure. Why not do this NOW, since we KNOW this is an ever growing threat? Makes sense, does it not?
Peter