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WHO concerned over consumption of bird flu-infected poultry+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)HONG KONG, May 3_(Kyodo) _ The World Health Organization is concerned about poverty-stricken people in Southeast Asian countries who chose to consume bird flu-infected poultry rather than to write off their losses, a WHO scientist said Wednesday. Tee Ah Sian, director for communicable diseases in the Western Pacific region, touched on the problem while addressing a bird flu pandemic preparedness planning conference in Hong Kong. "In many poor countries, they do (eat infected chickens). The moment they see a poultry falling ill, they quickly cut it and eat it," she said. Although scientific studies suggest humans need not fear getting the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus from consuming infected chickens if they are well-cooked, Tee warned that environmental factors could play a role in transmitting the disease. "The chicken is safe to eat if it is well-cooked, provided that the people preparing the chicken have not contaminated themselves from somewhere. It's not only direct contact with the chicken, sometimes the virus is in the environment. If you infect yourself from the environment, you can also get (the virus) onto the chicken's body," she said. Li Shichuo, a Chinese Health Ministry official, told the conference that Beijing has set up a cross-bureau emergency response network to bring a bird flu epidemic under control and offered extensive education programs and compensation funds for farmers. "I cannot be sure that no one (would eat infected chickens), but mostly they should know to avoid eating infected poultry," he said, adding, "It is one of government's concerns. The education program is going well." Hong Kong Health Secretary York Chow said he is worried about human cases of bird flu infection reported in recent months where the victims had no contact with poultry. "The death rate is high in cases reported recently," Chow said. "It could be late diagnosis, or lack of inspections. Also, analyses found that some cases suffered from not only respiratory infection, other organs of the victims were damaged as well." He suggested stockpiling different medications in case the virus does not only attack the lungs of patients. Hong Kong will also discuss with Chinese authorities to hold a joint exercise later this year on contingency plans in case an epidemic occurs across the border. Since 2003, 205 human bird flu cases have been reported in nine countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Turkey and Iraq -- among them 113 fatalities, according to WHO figures. China has reported 18 cases of infection, of whom 12 have died. |