A new case of bird flu in Vietnam yesterday heightened the sense of urgency for top health and animal experts gathered at a conference in the Southeast Asian nation with the goal of mapping out a long-term strategy for fighting the deadly virus.
Delegates are expected to call for swift action from affected nations and the international community to prevent bird flu from exploding into a global pandemic as the international meeting winded down yesterday.
"We are not expecting commitments in terms of amount of money, but we are for sure having strong recognition that it's a very serious matter which has to be addressed with more investment than before," Joseph Domenech, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) chief of animal health service, said.
Underscoring the growing threat, Vietnam confirmed a 21-year-old man from northern Thai Binh province tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus. He was admitted to the hospital Monday with a high fever, serious lung infection, breathing difficulties and liver failure, said Nguyen Thi Tuong Van of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi.
His 14-year-old sister is also suspected of contracting the disease and her samples are being tested now.
Since Dec. 30, 13 people have died in Vietnam from the bird flu while four others who contracted the virus recovered.
A growing chorus of experts have warned of the impending threat of a global pandemic if the bird flu is not contained. Experts have said the H5N1 virus, which has already killed 45 people from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, could become far more lethal if it mutates into a form that can be easily transmitted among humans.
The re-emergence of outbreaks in Vietnam this year indicated the virus has become entrenched in many parts of the region.
Health and animal officials have acknowledged that complete eradication of bird flu from the region is unlikely in the short term, but they have emphasized there is still time to effectively control the H5N1 virus at its source, ensuring that people and farm animals in Asia are sealed off from infected carriers.
However, it will take a sizeable investment from affected countries and the international community, said FAO officials. At a minimum, about US$100 million would be needed at the outset for beefing up veterinary services such as surveillance and monitoring the disease and providing animal vaccines.
That does not include more long-term costs of poultry restocking, compensation for farmers, or restructuring farming practices.
UN officials have criticized the earlier lack of commitment from affected countries and donors to tackle the outbreak when it surfaced last year.
Only about US$18 million was given by the international community to fund an emergency response -- a "glaringly insufficient" amount, compared to the magnitude of the threat, said Doctor Samuel Jutzi, an official with the FAO.
A long-term approach for controlling the virus will ultimately lie in revamping husbandry practices of Asia's small-scale farmers, many of whom live in close, often unsanitary quarters with their livestock.
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband is to serve a life sentence for his murder without the possibility of parole, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing a cocktail given to her husband, Eric Richins, with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Feb. 14, 2022, with a
‘PERSONAL MISTAKES’: Eileen Wang has agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison A southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government and has resigned from her city position, officials said on Monday. Eileen Wang (王愛琳), mayor of Arcadia, was charged last month with one count of acting in the US as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favorable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law. The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected
DELA ROSA CASE: The whereabouts of the senator, who is wanted by the ICC, was unclear, while President Marcos faces a political test over the senate situation Philippine authorities yesterday were seeking confirmation of reports that a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had fled, a day after gunfire rang out at the Philippine Senate where he had taken refuge fearing his arrest. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the former national police chief and top enforcer of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” has been under Senate protection and is wanted for crimes against humanity, the same charges Duterte is accused of. “Several sources confirmed that the senator, Senator Bato, is no longer in the Senate premises, but we are still getting confirmation,” Presidential
HELP DENIED? The US Department of State said that the Cuban leadership refuses to allow the US to provide aid to Cubans, ‘who are in desperate need of assistance’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said that Cuba’s leadership must change, as Washington renewed an offer of US$100 million in aid if the communist nation agrees to cooperate. Cuba has been suffering severe economic tumult led by an energy shortage that plunged 65 percent of the country into darkness on Tuesday. Cuba’s leaders have blamed US sanctions, but Rubio, a Cuban American and critic of the government established by Fidel Castro, said the system was to blame, including corruption by the military. “It’s a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it’s impossible to change it. I wish it were different,” he told
RSS