Bird Flu - Archives
Myanmar
Myanmar (Burma) –
Getting Worse?
I’ve written
several times about fears that Myanmar (Burma) could be the source of a
bird flu pandemic, due to a backward economy and a government dedicated to
intense secrecy. So here’s further cause for concern – the alternative
Democratic Voice of Burma
website is reporting that a “Burmese vet who doesn’t want to be named” has
said that the disease is still spreading, despite official denials.
The disease is
particularly spreading in periphery areas such as Mandalay Kwet Thit Ward
and the border areas of Amarapura Township, the vet said.
As some bigger
chicken farms are worried that their farms will be destroyed if smaller
farms around them are reported of the outbreak of the disease, there have
been cases of bigger farms bribing smaller farms not to report the outbreaks
in their farms to the veterinary departments.
You can read a lot more
disease news (all of it highly alarming) from Burma at
The Irrawaddy
website.
April 19th,
2006
Global Pandemic – Will
It Start in Myanmar?
Last October came
concerns that, as I wrote at the time, “Myanmar [Burma] could become the
breeding ground for a bird flu that mutates into a virus that infects humans
and begins to spread globally.”
Then, last month, we
learned that bird flu had been confirmed in the secretive country.
Now we hear
this:
Bird flu has spread in
Burma with more than 100
outbreaks across the country, a UN official has said.
He Changchui of the
UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a press conference the
situation was "more serious than we imagined".
…Mr He, who is the
FAO's Asia-Pacific representative, was speaking after two teams from the
agency visited Burma to assess the situation.
He said it had not
been easy to find accurate information.
"The issue there is
that awareness is rather poor," he said. "The information is not that
comprehensive."
He said Burma lacked
scientific equipment and facilities to deal with the outbreaks and would
need international assistance.
UN bird flu
co-ordinator David Nabarro, who is currently visiting South East Asia, said
there were major problems in Burma.
April 11th,
2006
Myanmar Testing
Myanmar
(Burma) is testing for bird flu, after the discovery of “scores” of dead
chickens and quails. Back in October, various officials were warning that
the secrecy that prevails in Myanmar meant that the country could become the
launching pad for a
new bird flu pandemic.
March 13th,
2006
Myanmar –
Bird Flu Black Hole?
Reuters has
published an
article speculating that Myanmar could become the breeding ground for a
bird flu that mutates into a virus that infects humans and begins to spread
globally. According to the article:
Officially, the H5N1
avian influenza strain that has killed millions of birds and scores of
people across Asia since late 2003 has not landed in the former Burma, even
though neighbouring China, Thailand and Laos have all had outbreaks.
However, given the dearth of reliable information that comes out of Yangon,
as well as the junta's dubious track record with the truth, many
international observers are worried about a cover-up of potentially global
significance…."Would they admit to it if it was here? That's the big
question, since they deny everything left, right and center," said one
Yangon-based diplomat.
October
13th, 2005
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