WHO Puts Tamiflu Maker On Alert After Suspected Human-to-Human Transmission

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Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Article Date: 27 May 2006 - 9:00 PDT

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Roche, the makers of Tamiflu, have been put on alert by the World Health Organization (WHO) after human-to-human transmission of bird flu was suspected among seven family members in Indonesia. This is the first time Roche has been put on this kind of alert.

As a precaution, WHO said 9,500 Tamiflu treatment doses were transported to Indonesia yesterday, along with protective equipment. Roche has built up a stockpile of 3 million treatment courses in Europe and North America. WHO says they have no intention of moving that stockpile.

Since the confirmation of seven bird flu infection cases among seven family members, of which six have died, Indonesian authorities have confirmed five additional cases elsewhere in the country, of those three have died.

So far, there have been 48 confirmed cases of bird flu infection in Indonesia, of which 36 have been fatal.

Roche spokesman, Baschi Duerr, said the company is in very close contact with WHO. He added that his company is ready to fly stocks wherever and whenever they are needed. Roche will stay on alert for the next two weeks.

WHO said placing Tamiflu makers on alert is standard practice when the organization has a reasonable doubt regarding human-to-human transmission of H5N1. In all likelihood, if in two weeks' time it is clear that the H5N1 transmission remained within the cluster of 7, and is not spreading, the alert may be withdrawn.

There has been criticism about the Indonesian government's commitment to combating the spread of bird flu. Unlike countries such as Thailand or Vietnam, where public awareness is high, thanks to efforts by governments and local authorities, public awareness in Indonesia of bird flu is very low. Many say Indonesia's reaction to possible outbreaks and reportings is too slow and ineffective.

Vietnam was hard hit by bird flu. The government reacted with strong public awareness campaigns, mass poultry cullings and vaccinations and managed to block the spread of the virus. Since November 2005, Vietnam has seen no human cases of bird flu. Indonesia has not carried out mass slaughters of chickens - in fact it has refused to do so. Its reason - it does not have the money to compensate farmers for their lost chickens. Mass culling of poultry is regarded as one of the most crucial bird flu containment measures by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization.

The world is concerned that Indonesia, a country with over 17,000 islands, hundreds of millions of chickens in people's backyards, no mass cullings, slow and ineffective government efforts, a growing number of cases of bird and human infections - could be the springboard for bird flu to mutate and become a really serious threat to global human health.

For once, all of us on this planet are faced with a common threat. Fiction writers have often depicted a common threat to earth as the only thing that would unify us all. H5N1 is potentially a threat to all of us. If we don't work together, we will be completely at the mercy of fate - like standing at the bottom of a hill, watching a boulder roll down, and closing our eyes in the hope that it does not hit us, rather than working together to stop it or get out of its way.

All governments around the world must be open - no cover ups, no censorship. We need total cooperation, we all have to follow the same guidelines. With modern technology and global cooperation we have a fantastic chance of really minimizing the effects a mutated avian flu virus may have on us. The H5N1 bird flu virus strain needs an environment where it may fester, an environment where it has time to get stuck in and gradually evolve. If we make this difficult for the virus, we win on two possible fronts:

1. We delay the coming of the mutation. This gives us more time to prepare.
2. We have a better chance of combating it when it does come. A world in full cooperation could move swiftly and effectively.

Editor: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today


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