20 December 2006
Experts Urge Nations To Report Flu Cases Immediately, Share Data
Flu meeting delegates also call for increased veterinary, human health services
Washington -- Delegates from more than 72 countries are calling on all nations to report influenza cases immediately and share epidemiological data and samples.
The reporting and data sharing provisions are in a declaration issued December 18 after the Fourth International Conference on Avian Influenza December 6-8 in Bamako, Mali.
At the ministerial and pledging conference, hosted by the African Union and Mali in conjunction with the European Union, donor governments pledged nearly $500 million to address avian influenza outbreaks that have occurred in 55 nations and to prepare for a possible human pandemic. (See related article.)
At the meeting, the United States pledged $100 million, bringing its total to $434 million for international assistance, a key component in the U.S. national strategy for dealing with pandemic influenza.
“I want to pay tribute to the United States for their continued engagement on this issue,” Dr. David Nabarro, senior U.N. system coordinator for avian and human influenza, said at a December 19 briefing at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, “and … on trying to make sure that the focus on avian influenza, and in particular on the potential pandemic, is one that is maintained long term.”
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that, to date, more than 200 million domesticated birds have died or have been culled to prevent disease spread, and the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 258 human cases of avian influenza have been reported in 10 countries, with 154 deaths.
INTERNATIONAL HEALTH REGULATIONS
The Bamako Declaration, approved by all delegates, says the fight against highly pathogenic avian influenza “should be used to strengthen the struggle against other emerging diseases” and urges renewed efforts to build capacity in animal and human health services through early voluntary implementation of WHO's revised International Health Regulations.
The updated rules are designed to prevent and protect against the international spread of diseases and minimize interference with world travel and trade.
“We in the United States government,” said Ambassador John Lange, the State Department’s special representative on avian and pandemic influenza, “are urging other nations around the world to comply now with the provisions of the revised International Health Regulations … before those regulations enter into effect next year.”
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced December 13 that the United States has accepted formally the International Health Regulations and will begin to implement the new international rules now rather than wait until they officially take effect in June 2007.
Under the revised regulations, countries that accept the regulations have much broader responsibility for preventing, detecting and responding to public-health emergencies of international concern, such as avian influenza. (See related article.)
Current regulations, adopted by WHO member states in 1969, apply to three diseases -- cholera, yellow fever and plague. The revised regulations include smallpox, polio, severe acute respiratory syndrome and new strains of human influenza, whose occurrences member states must report immediately to WHO.
ANIMAL AND HUMAN HEALTH
Animal and human health are linked inextricably, and experts around the world are urging a buildup of capacity in veterinary and human health infrastructures to deal with the current avian flu outbreak and with future emerging diseases.
“The ongoing spread of the disease in affected countries and new outbreaks are an expression of the lack of veterinary infrastructure,” said Ron DeHaven, administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
To help build such infrastructure, the United States is working with the FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
On December 19, a nine-person team of bird flu experts from the Crisis Management Center, an FAO-OIE initiative, arrived in the Republic of Korea to assess regional risks and protective measures after three recent outbreaks of the disease among domestic poultry in rural areas south of Seoul.
The team, drawn from South Korea and other nations, includes veterinary epidemiologists, wildlife veterinarians, biologists and poultry specialists who will examine the relationships among poultry production, marketing and wildlife sectors to understand better potential disease movement among chickens and risks to or from wild birds, FAO said.
“This threat is not going to go away in a hurry,” Nabarro said. “It’s going to be with us for years to come and our defenses are still not strong enough to cope with it.”
For ongoing coverage of the disease and efforts to combat it, see Bird Flu (Avian Influenza).
More information about the revised International Health Regulations is available at the WHO Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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