Interesting thought...

[Guest Guest]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/11May2006_news23.php

 

At a meeting in Bangkok on Monday, five Southeast Asian countries agreed to a bird flu action plan presented by Thailand to seriously address the issue in this region. By committing 100 million baht, Thailand will help its poorer neighbours Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to combat the virus which claimed another human victim this week, in Indonesia. The global human death toll from avian influenza now stands at 115, with five victims in Egypt, four in Turkey, 25 in Indonesia, six in Cambodia, 12 in China, 14 in Thailand, 42 in Vietnam, two in Iraq and five in Azerbaijan.

 

The five countries have agreed, from the start of next month, to implement an information-sharing programme and to send experts to conduct on-site surveillance and rapid response training of officials in the poorer nations. It is a promising start, and while it portrays Thailand in a good light, much needs to be done in these countries where even basic health care in rural areas is difficult to obtain or is non-existent.

 

The world is committing huge resources in an effort to halt the spread of avian influenza and in particular, the fatal H5N1 strain of the virus. In January, international donors pledged 72 billion baht to combat the spread of bird flu at the end of a conference in Beijing.

 

While Thailand's meeting ended on Monday, Australia on Tuesday announced it is earmarking 1.2 billion baht in an attempt to prevent deadly bird flu from reaching its shores. The money will be spent over three years to improve quarantine measures, fund research and develop vaccination strategies and methods to detect the virus.

 

Australia, along with America, is one of the few remaining countries bird flu is yet to spread its wings to, but experts predict it is only a matter of time before it will be detected there. Earlier this year, bird flu for the first time was found in Africa, Italy, Greece, Austria and Germany. In February it was detected in France, Scotland, Poland and Denmark and it has also spread to the Middle East.

 

Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon was correct when he told the Bangkok meeting's participants that it was important to translate what has been discussed and achieved on paper into a concrete plan, because too often decisions made at this level never make it to the grassroots like they should.

 

Mr Kantathi also said that theorists tend to agree that avian influenza is now moving towards its fourth phase, that of human-to-human infection, and if it does, the threat of a pandemic would become real.

 

Much expenditure is going towards science and we have been rewarded. Scientists at the US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology have determined that a flu gene protein called PB2, which is contained in the H5N1 virus, changes and this makes H5N1 deadly to mice. This changed PB2 had been found in Thais and Vietnamese who have died from H5N1 and also among captive tigers in Thailand.

 

While scientists are slowly discovering the reasons behind H5N1, and a poultry vaccine has been manufactured and is in use, many questions remain and the threat of a pandemic is relevant.

 

Right from the start, though, the supposed experts from the United Nations decided that the best way to deal with this scourge was for there to be a mass cull of all poultry in the area, dead or alive.

 

In the hysterics of the moment, this UN advice was taken on board and millions of birds throughout the world, where H5N1 has been found, have been wiped out. But in hindsight, perhaps this was not the correct procedure.

 

In areas where poultry had died, there was also poultry which had remained alive and healthy. In the animal world, it is well documented that some have the ability to naturally develop anti-bodies to ward off a virus while its fellow mate succumbs to it.

 

But by conducting mass culls of bird flu affected areas, we may be also killing off the very saviour nature has provided us.

[gardnmom]

About time someone started using their brain.

Often the parent gives its young natural immunity, the best defence in these cases.