Bangkok--Sep 28--UNISBKK
BIRD FLU EPIDEMIC WILL CONTINUE TO DEMAND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'S
ATTENTION, AGENCIES SAY IN JOINT STATEMENT Recent Outbreaks in Asian Countries
Show Virus Will Probably Not Be Eradicated in Near Future
The avian influenza epidemic in Asia is a "crisis of global importance" and will continue to demand the attention of the international community for some time to come, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said in a joint statement today.
Recent outbreaks in China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand
show that the virus continues to circulate in the region and will not
probably be eradicated in the near future, the two organizations said.
More research is urgently needed as the role of wildlife, domestic
ducks and pigs in transmitting the virus among animals is still not fully
understood. A permanent threat to animal and human health continues to
exist.
Major Investments Needed
While much progress has been made in early detection and reaction,
countries still need to step up proactive surveillance and control
measures. Major investments are required to strengthen veterinary
services, in particular for surveillance, early warning, detection,
reporting and response and for the rehabilitation and restructuring of the
poultry sector, the FAO/OIE said.
The newly published FAO Recommendations on the Prevention, Control and
Eradication of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Asia, prepared
in close collaboration with the OIE, review the factors that should be
taken into account in designing and implementing control programmes and
explain how countries can adopt a strategy appropriate to their individual
situation.
In response to recent controversies on vaccination against bird flu,
the OIE and FAO reiterated that the slaughter of infected animals is the
best way of controlling and ultimately stamping out the disease.
However, the FAO/OIE acknowledged that this policy may not be practical
or adequate in certain countries because of social and economic reasons or
because of high viral challenge due to infection in villages, wild birds or
domestic waterfowl. In such cases, countries wishing to eradicate the
disease may choose to use vaccination as a complementary measure to the
stamping-out policy.
Vaccination
The two agencies stressed that vaccines, if used, should be produced in
accordance with the international guidelines prescribed in the OIE Manual
of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals.
The OIE Terrestrial Code states that a country may be considered free
from the HPAI based on the absence of virus irrespective of whether
vaccination has been carried out. Therefore, the two organisations confirm
that the use of vaccines does not imply automatic loss of export markets.
It has been shown that the use of such vaccines does not only protect
healthy birds from disease but also reduces the load of viruses excreted by
infected birds and thus the likelihood of transmission of the virus to
other birds and to humans.
However, the decision on whether to use vaccines has to be made by each
country based on its own situation, the OIE/FAO said.
The factors countries should consider in making their decision include
their ability to detect and react to the disease as early as possible and
the need for transparent and timely notification; this will have to be supported by a good institutional framework and sound legislation
underpinning veterinary services.
Any vaccination strategy should be developed in consultation with all
stakeholders, including the private sector. The types of poultry and production sectors to be vaccinated must be determined and clearly documented. Infected poultry and those in contact with the virus should not be vaccinated.
The two agencies said vaccination should be carried out under the
supervision of official veterinary services and be accompanied by a parallel surveillance strategy. This would include the capacity of the veterinary services to identify and monitor the circulating virus as well as the response to vaccination, by means including the use of non-vaccinated sentinel birds and the application of serological tests capable of differentiating infected from vaccinated animals.
Contact: Erwin Northoff, Information Officer, FAO, e-mail:
[email protected], tel.: +39 06 570 53105.
For radio interviews: Liliane Kambirigi, Radio Information Officer,
e-mail: [email protected], tel.: +39 06 570 53223. End.
--InfoQuest (NT)--