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Fung Kwong Chuen
STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL
COLLAB0RATI0N:
HALT THE
SPREAD
OF
"BIRD
FLU''
-
TALKING
FREELY
ABOUTTHE
ASIA.PACIFIC''BIRD FLU''
The "bird" or avian flu
spreads
in
10
Asia-Pacific Countries, wiping out
chicken trades. Thaksin,
Thai
Prime
Minister, stressed (Bangkok Ministerial
Meeting, Jan.
2004) closer inter-govern-
ment
links; a regional
veterinary surveil-
lance network; low-cost tests
and
anti-viral drugs;
Qi Jingfa,
Vice
Minister,
Chinese Ministry
of
Agriculture, pledged
tighter
surveillance
as
avian
flu
worsens
in
Mainland China. Shigeru
Omi,
WHO
Regional Director, Western
Pacific, stressed
the strain's
much
higher virulence;
dual
infections
may
mix avian and human flu viruses
and
millions of humans are intected
rapidly,
wlth
1/3 dying. WHO praised
Hong
Kong's
1997
mass
slaughter of
chick-
ens but securing transparency,
rapid
information exchange, pooling
of
resources
and
closer
ties
amongst
countries and with WHO,
FAO
(UN
Food &
Agriculture Organisation)
and
OIE
(World
Animal Healih Organisation)
are vital.
Henry Yeung,
President,
HK
Doctors
Union, reiterated anti-viral
treat-
ments starting within 48
hours;
Samson
Wong,
Assistant
Professor,
Microbiology
of HK University, opted for human
flu
vaccination for all
poultry
workers, the
elderly and the chronically
ill;
like
preventing SARS,
strict
personal
hygiene, e.9., face
masks,
frequent
hand washing,
etc.,
minimizing virus
mix
and another
round
of
devastating
human
flu
pandemic.
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