H5N1 bird flu virus reassuringly stable: animal health chief
Thu Jan 10, 7:20 AM ET

PARIS (AFP) - The H5N1 virus that causes deadly avian flu has proven remarkably stable and action to curb outbreaks of the disease are highly effective, the head of the world's paramount agency for animal health said here Thursday.


Since the end of 2003, mutation of the H5N1 virus so that it can be easily transmissible among humans has been a nightmare for the world health community, raising concerns of a global influenza pandemic that could claim tens of millions of lives.

But Bernard Vallat, director general of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), said no evidence of any such genetic shift had emerged.

"We have never seen a virus which has been so stable for so long. Compared to other viruses, it is extremely stable, which minimises the risk of mutation"  into a pandemic strain, he told reporters.

Vallat said a system to beef up veterinary surveillance, especially in poor countries, had borne fruit, enabling outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry flocks to be identified and swiftly eradicated.

"It took two years for our voice to be heard," Vallat said. "If we had been heard before, the virus would have been stopped in its tracks."

Vallat said, though, "there are three countries, Indonesia, Egypt and to a lesser degree Nigeria, where the disease is endemic, and this creates reservoirs from which it can bounce back."

"If we could eradicate the virus in those countries, the problem of a pandemic from Asian H5N1 would be resolved," said Vallat.

The H5N1 virus is lethal and extremely contagious among birds. It is also dangerous for humans who are in close proximity to sick poultry, who can pick up the virus through nasal droplets or faeces.

H5N1 has killed 216 people since 2003, principally in Asia, according to the latest toll posted by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Hundreds of millions of chickens, ducks and geese have died from the virus or been culled as a preventative measure.

In other comments, Vallat said that climate change, combined with the acceleration of cross-border trade under globalisation, was posing a growing threat to animal health, which in turn raised a challenge for human health.

He pointed to mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus, which has become established in North America, and Rift Valley fever, which is edging northwards in Africa "and could quite easily become established in the Mediterranean."

In other comments, Vallat said the OIE was in talks with Beijing over opening a reference laboratory -- an internationally validated lab for checking samples -- in China as part of the global surveillance network for monitoring animal health.

At present, the only OIE-accredited reference labs in Asia are in Japan, but the agency is pushing hard to have these vital facilities much closer to the outbreaks of disease.

China's participation in the 172-member OIE had been dogged for 15 years over the participation of Taiwan, but the row was resolved last May.

Three Chinese labs have been put forward as reference facilities, Vallat said.

Vallat said that consumption of meat would probably rise by 50 percent by 2020 to respond to the needs of the burgeoning middle classes in Asia, and this required stronger veterinary safeguards to prevent further health scares.