Post by Josh on Feb 25, 2005 3:19:12 GMT -5
"The world is now in the gravest possible danger of a pandemic" that would dwarf SARS in its lethality, scope and economic cost, say the World Health Organization's top Asia-Pacific official.
The bird flu can easily turn into a pandemic, sweeping across the continents if (or when) the virus transforms itself into a version that humans can carry and transmit.
U.S. officials say that we are nearing the start of a large clinical trial of an experimental avian flu vaccine that could help slow the virus if it spread beyond Southeast Asia.
Among many other recommendations, world health officials recommended that chickens and other fowl be kept out of homes, that different species of poultry be segregated on farmss, and that domestic fowl not be allowed to mingle with wild birds.
They also said that changing farming practices and monitoring the spread of the disease, which has killed over 50 people and slaughtered the poultry industry in parts of Southeast Asia, will require massive infusions of aid from rich nations.
The bird flu can easily turn into a pandemic, sweeping across the continents if (or when) the virus transforms itself into a version that humans can carry and transmit.
U.S. officials say that we are nearing the start of a large clinical trial of an experimental avian flu vaccine that could help slow the virus if it spread beyond Southeast Asia.
Among many other recommendations, world health officials recommended that chickens and other fowl be kept out of homes, that different species of poultry be segregated on farmss, and that domestic fowl not be allowed to mingle with wild birds.
They also said that changing farming practices and monitoring the spread of the disease, which has killed over 50 people and slaughtered the poultry industry in parts of Southeast Asia, will require massive infusions of aid from rich nations.
