UN Approves Bird Flu Vaccinations

UN experts gave the go-ahead today for the targeted vaccination of poultry in an attempt to prevent the spread of bird flu in Asian countries.

The measure was approved as an alternative to mass culling, which affected countries fear could devastate their livestock.

The virus, which has killed at least 13 people in Asia after jumping to humans in Thailand and Vietnam, will spread much further without emergency measures, according to the UN food and agriculture organisation (FAO), the world health organisation (WHO) and the world animal health organisation (WAHO).

In a statement issued after a two-day conference, experts from the three international agencies said cautious use of vaccinations could create buffer zones around already infected areas to prevent the disease spreading further.

"The mass culling of flocks outside of infected sites in reaction to outbreaks might therefore be largely avoided and major damage to the livelihoods of rural households and national economies averted," the statement said.

"Without the implementation of appropriate methods of disease control, the risk of epidemic spread to further countries, including those in distant regions, is likely to remain high," it added.

So far, the main response to the outbreak has been to kill millions of animals, but mass slaughter and import bans have ravaged Asia's poultry industry. Some 50m chickens have already been slaughtered in the hope of containing the disease across the 10 countries affected.

Today's meeting was convened to work out a unified approach to the disease, and came up with a series of recommendations that focus on international co-ordination, surveillance and transparency in reporting, said a spokesman for the FAO, which hosted the meeting at its Rome headquarters.

Dewan Sibartie of the WAHO also complained that some affected countries had failed to rapidly pass on local information about outbreaks to her organisation. "Had they reported in time, we could have taken more timely action. We could have provided expertise and other kinds of assistance a long time back," the expert said.

The vaccination of healthy birds could protect against different strains of bird flu, although there was a consensus that animals that are already infected must be culled to prevent outbreaks.

In a conference call yesterday with representatives from affected countries - including China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia - experts stressed that withholding information would let the disease spread further and cripple trade.

Juan Lubroth, an animal health official at the FAO, said the recommendations would also include human-protection measures. For example, those involved in clean-up operations at poultry farms will be encouraged to wear protective gear.

"We've also discussed rehabilitation. How can we get villages and even countries back onto their feet," Mr Lubroth said, adding that measures would include restocking culled animals and re-evaluating safety procedures. Experts say there is still a theoretical possibility of a human pandemic if the disease mixes with a normal human flu virus to create a hybrid that can spread rapidly.

WHO officials said yesterday that the current outbreak was far from such a scenario, but the organisation is working to develop a human vaccine.