24 March 2006
United States Helping Lead War on Bird Flu, Says U.N. Envoy
Nation expands international cooperation, increases monitoring for disease
By Todd Bullock
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United States is taking a strong leadership role in global efforts to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic influenza outbreak from the highly virulent H5N1 avian influenza virus, says Dr. David Nabarro, U.N. senior coordinator for avian and human influenza.
"The U.S. government is raising the importance of strategic support to stop the continued spread of influenza in animals and to prevent emergence of a human-to-human outbreak," Nabarro said March 23 at a Washington forum on avian influenza surveillance and readiness organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He cited U.S. participation and support at meetings of public health organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and other U.N. working groups, as well as U.S. work to increase global disease-surveillance capacity. (See related article.)
Specifically, the U.N. envoy praised efforts by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for their "superb technical cooperation" with Nigerian officials in responding to the recent outbreak of H5N1 in that West African nation.
According to the WHO, the disease has been detected in flocks in 11 of Nigeria’s 37 states. (See related article.)
The two U.S. agencies quickly sent in personnel following detection of the deadly virus and are working to help Nigeria develop its own detection capacity and adopt better hygienic practices on commercial poultry farms. (See related article.)
"CDC and USAID have done an enormous amount to make a difference," Nabarro said.
NABARRO URGES INCREASED PUBLIC EDUCATION, PREPARATION
Health officials must continue to provide as much information as possible to the public and to the media as preparations are made for any public health emergency, Nabarro said.
The U.N. coordinator added that better information about hygiene and biosecurity should be disseminated to small poultry farmers who otherwise might not have access to such information. (See related article.)
International officials are issuing warnings about preparedness because the avian influenza epidemic among animals could evolve into a human influenza pandemic. With an eye toward that potential crisis, Nabarro also discussed the need for governments to develop contingency plans for maintaining continuity of government as well as the rule of law.
"In the event of a pandemic, public services are going to be stretched to their limits and certain regions in the world will be vulnerable to a breakdown in law and order," he said. (See related article.)
According to Nabarro, avian influenza has spread to 20 countries during the last six weeks alone and has recently moved into the Gaza Strip as well as settlements in the West Bank.
"We are very vulnerable," he warned. "Most of us, I think, feel that it's best to be preparing to hunker down."
UNITED STATES INCREASING DOMESTIC MONITORING FOR H5N1
The United States is developing the clinical capacity to detect the spread of avian influenza once it enters North America, Nancy Cox, chief of the influenza branch at the National Center for Infectious Diseases, said.
"Our priority is to work on a rapid diagnostic test which will be able to detect human infection of the virus and inform state and local health care providers," she said at the forum.
The CDC and the U.S. departments of agriculture and defense are collaborating to develop the test, Cox said.
"The United States has an existing mortality reporting system from hospitals which report the number of deaths from pneumonia or influenza, which will allow us to track and contain infection rates," she said.
She also noted that the United States is working with international partners on epidemiological studies to monitor any mutations of H5N1 that might increase the chances of human-to-human transmission.
For additional information on the disease and efforts to combat it, see Bird Flu.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
