WHO vows vaccine stockpile for poor states

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Responding to calls from developing countries for the fairer distribution of bird flu vaccines, the World Health Organization will create a global stockpile of vaccines for poor countries.

Director general of the WHO, Margareth Chan, said Wednesday the global vaccine reserve would be of great importance for developing countries in their fight against avian influenza

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Web Exclusive: Human ‘sentinels’ for H5N1 in poultry

By Dr. Terry Mabbett
Since 2004 Cambodia has recorded just 20 outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry compared with over 2373 in neighbouring Vietnam.

16 April 2007-Seven all-fatal cases (most recent 3 April 2007) have been identified in Cambodia. Vietnam has recorded 93 human cases (42 fatal), the last on 14 November 2005. Ratio of H5N1 disease outbreaks in poultry to identified human infections is 3:1 and 25:1 respectively for Cambodia and Vietnam.

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Avian influenza: a threat to rural livelihoods, agricultural production and human health
FAO forms task force to monitor crisis, sends technical support missions to affected countries, convenes urgent meeting
Avian influenza was first identified over 100 years ago during an outbreak in Italy. Since then, the disease has cropped up at irregular intervals in all world regions. In addition to the current outbreak in Asia, recent epidemics have occurred in Hong Kong in 1997-1998 and 2003, in the Netherlands in 2003, and in the Republic of Korea in 2003.

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