Preparing the world to face an influenza pandemic has improved after an “extraordinary global response” to the threat of avian influenza in recent years, said yesterday the world body’s coordinator for the flu, David Nabarro.
Nabarro said that there is still a risk of a pandemic if the avian flu virus mutates into a form that passes easily between humans. The H5N1 flu strain is highly pathogenic, has caused the death or destruction of nearly 300 million birds since it resurfaced in Asia in 2003.
While H5N1 rarely infects people, has killed 241 of 383 infected in 15 countries. Concern about the disease in the world increased in 2005, as cases were known in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Nabarro also said in a press conference of the UN that “there has been an extraordinary global response to the virus from spreading (…) (…) which has meant that now the continuous transmission of the virus occurs only in four, perhaps five countries.
The situation improved
Elsewhere, he added, “the situation is actually improving.”Countries generally have invested massively to improve the functioning of their veterinary services, and security (…) about the birds that are reared has generally improved. (more…)
