U.N. Agency warns against of Bird-flu outbreak
Submitted by Gina on August 30, 2011 - 5:58pm
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations cautioned that, "In Vietnam, which suspended its springtime poultry vaccination campaign this year, most of the northern and central parts of the country -- where H5N1 is endemic -- have been invaded by the new virus strain, known as H5N1-2.3.2.1,"
Although no complaints of human contagion with the newly distributed vaccine have yet been covered by either FAO or the World Health Organization (WHO). At the same time, WHO also reported that Vietnam has stayed exempt of human transmissions with any avian H5N1 strains in 2011.
Vietnam has been targeted for the vaccination campaign this autumn and the novel strain is "apparently able to sidestep the defenses provided by existing [poultry] vaccines," FAO mentioned in its reports.
H5N1 infection reintroduced especially in Asian countries
The current H5N1 flu virus outbreak - first observed in the year 2003 when humans began getting ill and eventually dying - has struck domestic poultry as well as the wild birds.
The situation led to the eruption and gradual expansion of the disease from eastern Asia. The outbreak also resurfaced in those areas where it was believed to have been extirpated.
The outbreak in bird flocks topped in 2006 and but somehow lowered by 2008 after vigorous poultry killing measures in all the flu-struck countries.
As per the FAO study, the poultry infections have been surging all over again. Since 2010, near about 800 such cases have already been reported, against only 300 in 2008.
Countries like Israel, the Palestinian territories, Romania, and Bulgaria have been under vigilance. On the other hand, the FAO's chief veterinary officer, Juan Lubroth said that countries like Egypt, Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam are most vulnerable to H5N1 virus.
WHO also mentioned that latest H5N1 infections cases have been collected from Egypt and some places in Cambodia. In Egypt, 49 human infections and 25 fatalities have been recorded.
WHO data have recorded 565 human illnesses with 331 fatalities due to the disease, since 2003.
