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UNITED NATIONS: Despite the fact that bird flu remains entrenched in
Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, the situation is
improving in the rest of the world due to measures taken by
governments, the UN coordinator for the disease said Tuesday.
“If we look at the rest of the world, I can
continue to report that the situation is really improving,” David
Nabarro told reporters here.
“Countries generally have invested massively
in improving the functioning of their veterinary services and also
the biosecurity around which poultry are reared, has generally
improved.”
“It doesn’t mean that we can say that the
situation globally is completely under control, but it does mean
that in the rest of the world, there is a great deal of vigilance
and action under way,” he added.
Nabarro, however, warned that the world
community should remain on high alert for the possible mutation of
the virus into one communicable between humans.
He highlighted intensive action by South Korea
and Britain to bring outbreaks under control, as well as financial
sector exercises in Australia and the United States to prepare for
the impact of potential avian influenza crises.
He said that governments had invested massively
in improving conditions for rearing poultry and had increased their
focus on the link between animal and human diseases.
In 2005, the world body tasked Nabarro, a
Briton, to lead efforts to contain the bird flu crisis.
-- AFP
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