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PARIS — The number of avian influenza outbreaks in animals, particularly wild animals, has hit a seasonal lull, and world animal health experts believe it may reflect the end of the spring bird migration season.
The World Health Organization reports that the number of human deaths resulting from infection with the H5N1 avian flu this year already has exceeded the total for 2005, and the total number of human infections has nearly matched the 95 of last year. Yet experts from Paris-based OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health, said they've received fewer notifications of outbreaks in animals in recent months.
“Fewer outbreaks are reported and, especially in Europe where we found most of the outbreaks, we assume that the animals that may be affected, that carry the virus, already moved to other places,” Dr. Christianne Bruschke, project manager with OIE, said at an international conference on avian influenza in humans.
“In poultry we get fewer reports, but we know there are places like Indonesia where we know the virus is endemic, so it's very difficult to report every individual outbreak,” she noted in an interview.
In addition, many of the countries where avian flu is endemic do not have the necessary scientific resources to chase every report of avian flu.
The role of wild birds in the spread of avian flu worldwide is unclear. Dr. Bruschke said less than 1% of wild birds in Asia and Africa have been found to be infected.
A scientific conference of OIE and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in late spring concluded that the poultry trade, legal and illegal, is the chief means of the spread of the disease. But wild birds have been responsible for carrying the disease to regions far removed from poultry outbreaks and may serve as a permanent “reservoir” of the disease, it was concluded at that conference.
In her presentation, Dr. Bruschke said that OIE is in the final stages of setting up a “global early warning system” to help prevent further spread of the disease in animals. The international approach will focus on combating disease outbreaks in poultry. Among the necessary tools will be compensation for poultry farmers whose flocks are infected, giving them an incentive to report an outbreak.
“It's still an animal disease and should be controlled at the animal source,” she said. “The risk of pandemic can be minimized if we act quickly to reduce the virus load in poultry.”
PARIS — The number of avian influenza outbreaks in animals, particularly wild animals, has hit a seasonal lull, and world animal health experts believe it may reflect the end of the spring bird migration season.
The World Health Organization reports that the number of human deaths resulting from infection with the H5N1 avian flu this year already has exceeded the total for 2005, and the total number of human infections has nearly matched the 95 of last year. Yet experts from Paris-based OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health, said they've received fewer notifications of outbreaks in animals in recent months.
“Fewer outbreaks are reported and, especially in Europe where we found most of the outbreaks, we assume that the animals that may be affected, that carry the virus, already moved to other places,” Dr. Christianne Bruschke, project manager with OIE, said at an international conference on avian influenza in humans.
“In poultry we get fewer reports, but we know there are places like Indonesia where we know the virus is endemic, so it's very difficult to report every individual outbreak,” she noted in an interview.
In addition, many of the countries where avian flu is endemic do not have the necessary scientific resources to chase every report of avian flu.
The role of wild birds in the spread of avian flu worldwide is unclear. Dr. Bruschke said less than 1% of wild birds in Asia and Africa have been found to be infected.
A scientific conference of OIE and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in late spring concluded that the poultry trade, legal and illegal, is the chief means of the spread of the disease. But wild birds have been responsible for carrying the disease to regions far removed from poultry outbreaks and may serve as a permanent “reservoir” of the disease, it was concluded at that conference.
In her presentation, Dr. Bruschke said that OIE is in the final stages of setting up a “global early warning system” to help prevent further spread of the disease in animals. The international approach will focus on combating disease outbreaks in poultry. Among the necessary tools will be compensation for poultry farmers whose flocks are infected, giving them an incentive to report an outbreak.
“It's still an animal disease and should be controlled at the animal source,” she said. “The risk of pandemic can be minimized if we act quickly to reduce the virus load in poultry.”
PARIS — The number of avian influenza outbreaks in animals, particularly wild animals, has hit a seasonal lull, and world animal health experts believe it may reflect the end of the spring bird migration season.
The World Health Organization reports that the number of human deaths resulting from infection with the H5N1 avian flu this year already has exceeded the total for 2005, and the total number of human infections has nearly matched the 95 of last year. Yet experts from Paris-based OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health, said they've received fewer notifications of outbreaks in animals in recent months.
“Fewer outbreaks are reported and, especially in Europe where we found most of the outbreaks, we assume that the animals that may be affected, that carry the virus, already moved to other places,” Dr. Christianne Bruschke, project manager with OIE, said at an international conference on avian influenza in humans.
“In poultry we get fewer reports, but we know there are places like Indonesia where we know the virus is endemic, so it's very difficult to report every individual outbreak,” she noted in an interview.
In addition, many of the countries where avian flu is endemic do not have the necessary scientific resources to chase every report of avian flu.
The role of wild birds in the spread of avian flu worldwide is unclear. Dr. Bruschke said less than 1% of wild birds in Asia and Africa have been found to be infected.
A scientific conference of OIE and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in late spring concluded that the poultry trade, legal and illegal, is the chief means of the spread of the disease. But wild birds have been responsible for carrying the disease to regions far removed from poultry outbreaks and may serve as a permanent “reservoir” of the disease, it was concluded at that conference.
In her presentation, Dr. Bruschke said that OIE is in the final stages of setting up a “global early warning system” to help prevent further spread of the disease in animals. The international approach will focus on combating disease outbreaks in poultry. Among the necessary tools will be compensation for poultry farmers whose flocks are infected, giving them an incentive to report an outbreak.
“It's still an animal disease and should be controlled at the animal source,” she said. “The risk of pandemic can be minimized if we act quickly to reduce the virus load in poultry.”