U.N. launches bird flu rapid reaction squad
Pastor Dale Morgan
Thursday October 12, 11:15 PM Reuters
*U.N. launches bird flu rapid reaction squad*
By Robin Pomeroy
ROME (Reuters) - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation
on Thursday launched a global crisis centre to monitor the spread of
bird flu and despatch experts to help countries crack down on the killer
virus.
The FAO's "Crisis Management Centre" will be staffed round the clock,
taking calls from countries that discover outbreaks of bird flu and
sending specially trained vets anywhere in the world within 48 hours.
"It's a sort of commando approach," the FAO's chief veterinary officer
Joseph Domenech said at an inaugural session of the Rome-based
organisation. "We have a type of 'fire brigade' equipped with the most
modern equipment."
The centre was set up after pressure from the United States and the
European Union to establish a single centre to coordinate global efforts
to combat the H5N1 strain of the virus which has killed 146 people since
2003.
It will operate in cooperation with the World Organisation for Animal
Health (OIE) and the World Heath Organisation (WHO) and send staff
especially into developing countries which lack the resources to cope on
their own.
FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said that although many countries had
succeeded in eradicating bird flu in poultry flocks, there were still
major problems in Africa and Indonesia and risks the virus could return
even after eradication.
The biggest fear is that the virus could mutate into a form that can be
passed between humans, creating a global pandemic.
"Only when H5N1 has been totally eradicated will the sword of Damocles,
or more pessimistically the time bomb, of a human pandemic be removed,"
Diouf said, adding that the centre would also be used to control any
future outbreaks of other cross-border animal-based diseases.
The United States is providing the biggest chunk of the funding -- $5.1
million (2.7 million pounds) -- and has sent three vets to join the
staff in Rome.