Intensify Preparations For Flu Pandemic, European Agency Says

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Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Article Date: 01 Jun 2006 - 10:00 PDT

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European Union nations need to intensify preparations for a possible flu pandemic, says the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in a revised risk assessment published today. The report expresses concern about the spread of H5N1 in Africa and Asia.

Although H5N1 is currently a low risk for public health, the report explains that recent developments indicate that more humans than ever before are being exposed to the virus. This raises H5N1's chances of mutating into a human transmissible virus - leading to a flu pandemic.

Zsuzsanna Jakab, ECDC Director, said that even though we cannot be sure whether H5N1 will ever develop into a serious threat for human health, the fact that more and more people are being exposed to it brings us nearer to finding out.

Jakab stressed the importance for Europe to speed up its preparedness against a possible human flu pandemic.

Here are some details from the ECDC's New Risk Assessment

-- As some wild birds in Europe have been infected, European governments must accept that H5N1 will continue to be an animal disease capable of passing to humans (zoonosis*).

(* Zoonosis = A disease of animals which can be transmitted to humans. e.g. Rabies - you catch it from an animal. The plural of zoonosis is zoonoses)

-- According to all available evidence, H5N1 is no better at infecting humans than it was in 1997. Humans still only become infected when exposed to large quantities of the virus.

-- People living very close to poultry need to know the risks and how to protect themselves.

-- Vets and farm workers need to be protected. Precautionary measures must be followed.

-- H5N1 is a still a much lower human health threat than other zoonoses, such as salmonella, campylobacter and zoonotic strains of E. coli. Thousands of people in Europe have come down with other zoonoses - not one person in the Europe Union has become infected with H5N1.

-- We don't know if H5N1 has the capability of mutating into a form that would create a human flu pandemic. If it can, H5N1's present spread across Africa and Asia multiplies its chances for doing so.

-- Three pandemics have occurred over the last century. 1918-1920, 1957 and 1968. There is no reason to suppose another one is unlikely in the years to come.

-- The present increased human exposure means European Union members must intensify their preparedness for a pandemic.

Link
the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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