Peter Cordingley (PC) is the spokesperson for the World Health
Organization, or WHO Western Pacific Office based in the
Philippines, and he tells Melanie Yip why.
PC: If you look back to January this
year, when the first report of this virus began to come out, the
country in question was Vietnam. There were some people who thought
that, perhaps you know, this was a simple problem that could be
stopped through surveillance, the killing of infected chickens, and
the establishment of sanitized zones around infected areas. Now, we
are 11 months down the road, and this virus has spread to nine
countries. At the moment, it is quiet, we do not hear many reports
of outbreaks, although there are signs of the virus popping up
occasionally, but they were quickly put under control. But we think
that when the winter comes, which is when flu viruses are more
active. We will find that despite what we're looking at the moment,
a large part of Asia may well be on the fire with this virus in
poultry.
Why is Asia more prone to the bird flu pandemic than other parts of
the world like North America and Europe?
PC: We think the answer to that is
something to do with the fact that there is growing prosperity in
Asia. People at one time were happy to eat just vegetables and
rice. They became more prosperous, there was more money in the
family budget, they turned to meat and in the case of Asia, it has
largely been chickens. So we've now seen the growth, enormous
growth of chicken farming across South East Asia, particularly in
Southern China. These chicken farms have shot up with absolutely no
considerations for environmental controls or hygiene. People are
living with their chickens, they're mixing with the chickens,
they're doing something which they should never do, and that is to
mix chickens and ducks because of the dangers of the transfer of
virus. So we now have an animal husbandry out of control in this
part of the world.
The World Health Organization had said that it is only a matter of
time before the next influenza pandemic erupts, and Asian
authorities may be powerless to stop the deaths of up to 50 million
people. Is there a specific time period the WHO is referring
to?
PC: We don't know when this is going
to happen, we're fairly certain that it is going to happen. I can
give you a couple of reasons why this is going to happen. One is
that this virus is embedded in large parts of South East Asia, and
Southern China. Second reason is that this virus, at one time,
infected only chickens. Now it infects chickens, pigs, cats,
tigers, we've now even seen it not only in ducks, but in ducks that
show no signs of illness. So you can imagine the potential for the
spread of virus. The third reason is that flu pandemics,
historically from the 19th to 20th centuries, have come around
every 30 or so years. Nature doesn't do things by whim, the last
flu pandemic was in 1968, we're well overdue now to have another
one.
Source:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/analysis/view/122414/1/.html
