´bird flu´

International bird flu experts in Vietnam to check human transmission risk

An international team of experts has arrived in Vietnam to study the likelihood of greater human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus, the World Health Organisation said.

The top virologists and epidemiologists from Britain, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States were scheduled to work with Vietnamese scientists until the middle of next week.

"These experts will be further studying issues first raised at a WHO meeting in Manila in May 2005, including the possibility of more widespread H5N1 human transmission, changes in the H5N1 virus, and the likelihood of increased human-to-human transmission," the WHO said in a press release.

"It is essential that recent avian influenza information in Vietnam be shared with the global community," said Hans Troedsson, WHO Representative in Hanoi.

"What has happened in Vietnam may have public health implications for the entire world and will be crucial in preparing for a possible pandemic."

The WHO has been urging governments to prepare for a possible pandemic after a study in the communist country showed signs of a greater risk of human-to-human transmission of bird flu.

A total of 54 people have died from the H5N1 virus -- 38 Vietnamese, 12 Thais and four Cambodians -- since the epidemic started in 2003.

The WHO release quoted Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat, who chairs the government task force on avian influenza, as saying Vietnam had taken serious measures to control bird flu.

"Vietnam welcomes the support of the international community, and we hope that appropriate financial and technical support will be provided in a timely manner," said Phat.

On Monday a health official said about 6,000 chickens were infected with the deadly bird flu virus in Ben Tre province of southern Vietnam in the country´s first such outbreak in two months.

Neighbouring China has had three bird flu outbreaks in the past two months, leading authorities to cull thousands of infected birds.

[link to sg.news.yahoo.com]