Indonesia said a 27-year-old woman died of bird flu as it prepared to scour the capital for infected poultry, while Malaysia and India expanded the slaughter of chickens to try to contain the H5N1 virus.
Bangladesh and Thailand extended their ban on poultry imports to several more countries, and a UN official in Afghanistan warned that an outbreak in the war-ravaged country was "virtually unavoidable."
International health experts, meanwhile, expressed concern over the unprecedented spread of bird flu from Asia to Europe and Africa.
"We've never seen so many outbreaks of the same virus in so many different regions," said World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Maria Cheng.
"Our concern obviously is that humans could potentially come into contact with birds infected with H5N1, which would mean populations worldwide are potentially at risk," she said.
The H5N1 virus has devastated poultry stocks and killed at least 92 people since 2003, mostly in Asia, and fresh outbreaks have been reported in birds in 14 countries this month.
International health experts say it remains difficult for humans to catch H5N1, but they fear the virus could mutate, setting off a flu pandemic that could kill millions.
Indonesia
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said his country, which has recorded 19 deaths in the last nine months, could learn from Vietnam, which has largely stemmed new cases thanks to an aggressive slaughtering campaign.
After meeting with Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Jakarta, Yudhoyono said the communist country, which has tallied 42 human fatalities, had raised "the whole society's spirit to fight" the deadly bird flu.
Initial tests show that a 27-year-old Indonesia woman died of bird flu in the capital on Monday after coming into contact with sick chickens, said Health Ministry official Hariadi Wibisono, who was awaiting confirmation from a WHO-accredited laboratory in Hong Kong.
Though Indonesia has so far resisted mass culls of poultry, citing a lack of funding, officials said they would start testing and slaughtering birds in infected areas of Jakarta beginning tomorrow.
Malaysia
Malaysia, where seven people were under observation at a hospital with flu-like symptoms yesterday, expanded its bird flu watch area to downtown Kuala Lumpur, including the landmark Petronas Twin Towers.
The country recently reported its first outbreak of the disease in more than a year.
Close to 850 chickens, ducks and other birds were killed following house-to-house checks in hamlets near Malaysia's main city, said Mustapa Abdul Jalil, of the Veterinary Services Department.
"The department believes there is no cause for panic," he told reporters.
India, too, was expanding a massive slaughter of chickens yesterday, as top officials tried to reassure the public it was safe to eat poultry products.
More than half a million birds have been killed in Navapur district since the virus was found in samples from some of the 30,000 chickens that had died recently.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS