Experts firm up plans to halt virus spread

Animal and public health experts firmed up plans at an international meeting yesterday to halt the spread of bird flu as the hardest-hit country, Vietnam, reported its 42nd death from the avian virus.

Containing the H5N1 bird flu virus that has spread from Asia to Europe and threatens Africa and the Middle East is considered the best way to stop it turning into a human pandemic strain.

Officials from more than 100 countries meeting at the World Health Organisation mapped out what needs to be done, the gaps which must be filled and preparations for a human pandemic.

"If we can reduce the presence of the virus, we will reduce the probability of a human pandemic," Bernard Vallat, the director general of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) told the conference in Geneva.

Joseph Domenech, chief veterinary officer of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), said time was vital.

"We have to work on our early warning systems much more." The H5N1 bird flu virus has already killed more than 63 people in Asia, including the latest victim, a 35-year-old man in Hanoi. An Indonesian girl is also suspected of dying from bird flu. Officials are waiting for test results.

There have been no outbreaks of a human pandemic strain anywhere in the world but health experts officials have said the signs are clear it is coming.

"Strong surveillance and response networks for early detection of pandemic virus will make a difference," said Klaus Stohr, team coordinator of the WHO's Global Influenza Programme.

Antiviral drugs will be the first line of defence against a human pandemic until a vaccine specific to the pandemic strain can be developed. The WHO already has stockpiled three million doses of antiviral drugs which it says can be deployed in any country as soon as a human outbreak occurs.

Mr Stohr said 900 million doses of a pandemic vaccine, triple the current production capacity for seasonal flu, could be available in eight months if the amount of antigen in the vaccine can be reduced through so-called smart vaccine composition.

"Clear indications are that it is likely to work. Some issues are not resolved but it is a realistic scenario," he said on the second day of the three-day meeting.

But Margaret Chan, the top WHO pandemic official, said even 900 million doses fall "far short" of what will be needed in a pandemic.

Mr Vallat emphasised that veterinary services were at the vanguard of the fight against animal diseases, including those transmissible to humans.

He said if an outbreak of bird flu occurs in any country, classic animal health policy should be immediately applied with the subsidised culling of infected or in-contact animals and strict movement curbs introduced for animals and humans.

"Hours count. If you don't act within 48 hours, the virus can spread and the costs multiply by thousands," Mr Vallat said.

The OIE and UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have set up a network of laboratories and expertise specialised in avian influenza, known as OFFLU, but it needs more funding.

The OIE also said for the early detection and culling policy to work, it was fundamental that there should be "immediate and fair compensation mechanisms for livestock producers".

In those countries unable to mobilise enough resources to stamp out an outbreak by mass culling, the option of vaccination should be considered as a back-up policy, Mr Vallat said.

"Temporary mass vaccination should be used as a last resort before reverting to classical sanitary policies," the OIE said in a report on its proposals.

The Paris-based group said more needed to be done to improve the coordination between national authorities in order to speed up the response time to a reported case.