The
world remains unprepared to cope with a pandemic in humans arising from
bird flu, a UN and World Bank report released Thursday found.
"However, many national pandemic plans are not sufficiently operational
and the coordination of pandemic planning between countries needs
greater attention," it added, ahead of an international conference set
to discuss related issues December 4-6 in New Delhi.
Nabarro was quoted in the report as saying that "pathogens are becoming
more mobile as a result of increases in international travel and trade
and changes in ecosystems."
"The long term security of the human race requires all nations to
prepare together -- so that when new disease outbreaks and pandemics do
occur, responses will be adequate and meet the needs of all people and
not just a fortunate few," he added.
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Most countries
over the past two years have upgraded veterinary services and improved detection
abilities.
"But there are still around six countries in which we believe that the virus is
what we call enzootic, meaning it's continuously present and being passed
between poultry.
"The most obvious one of these is Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous
nation, with 1.4 billion poultry, where the virus is being continuously
transmitted in at least half the districts in the country," he said.
Bird flu has led to the death of 157 people since 2003, out of a total of 261
human cases reported. Millions of poultry have also been destroyed. |
 The
WHO fears that the virus could mutate into a form that makes it contagious for
humans.
British medical journal The Lancet predicted in December that if the disease has
the same ferocity as the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-20, fatalities could
reach 51-81 million worldwide, with 96 percent of deaths occurring in the
developing world.
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