News
29.04.2009
Belarus intensifying border sanitary control over swine flu
Belarus is intensifying sanitary control at its international airport and on the border in connection with the swine flu outbreak in the world.
According to the country's Chief Sanitary Doctor Valentina Kachan, Belarusian specialists are monitoring the situation with the aim of preventing the penetration and spread in the Belarusian territory of the swine flu virus and are working out a system of measures to enhance the republic's readiness for possible pandemic.
"As of today, there are no official data that the virus is transmitted through meat and meals. But together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food we will discuss a complex of preventive measures that should be taken if necessary," Kachan said on national television on Tuesday.
She also noted that specialists "will be monitoring single cases of the disease and group contraction of the disease and will draw a plan of preparation for the swine flu pandemic."
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in its Interim WHO guidance for the surveillance of human infection with swine influenza A(H1N1)virus that in order to understand the severity of the disease it is very important that comprehensive data collection and follow up is carried out for all probable and confirmed cases of swine influenza A(H1N1) virus infection. WHO's data requirements are detailed in the Global Surveillance during an Influenza Pandemic Version 1 Updated draft April 2009 (Comprehensive Assessment, Clinical characteristics: Database of information for 100 cases). Many countries and territories will have already developed questionnaires for influenza A(H5N1) related investigation. These can be adapted and used for the investigation of individuals for whom swine influenza A(H1N1) virus infection is considered.
Confirmed and probable cases reported are to be attributed to the country or territory in which they are currently located or where they have died. Changes in case classification from probable to confirmed, as well as determination of the final outcome of the disease, should be signalled when reporting and will be reflected in the updates to be published by WHO.
According to a UN press release, with increasing numbers of people contracting the deadly swine flu virus, the United Nations health agency on Monday elevated the international pandemic alert to phase 4, on a six-point scale, for the first time since the current warning system was introduced in 2005 in response to the avian influenza crisis.
The increase in the alert level signals an outbreak of human to human transmission in at least one country, which increases the risk of a global epidemic, but does not mean a pandemic is inevitable.
"Given the rapidly evolving situation [it was felt] that it was important to give a strong signal to countries that now is a good time to strengthen preparations for possible pandemic influenza," World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda told reporters in Geneva.
Mr. Fukuda explained that the emergency committee of health experts, set up to deal with the recent outbreak of the swine flu virus, raised the alert level because the virus had already spread to the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with a verified case in Spain.
He underscored the importance for authorities to protect the health of individuals and to focus their efforts on mitigating the disease rather than attempt to stop its spread, stressing that "containment is not a feasible consideration."
WHO would not recommend the closing of borders or the restriction of travel, which would have little to no effect in stopping the movement of the virus, Mr. Fukuda said.
Phase 5 of the WHO pandemic alert levels is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region, according to the UN release.
"The declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short," says the agency's website.
Noting that flu season is now kicking into gear in the southern hemisphere, Mr. Fukuda said it is prudent to continue production of general influenza vaccines that prevent severe illness and death from seasonal influenza.
However, the emergency committee also advised WHO to "take all steps to facilitate production and development of a swine flu influenza vaccine that would be effective in [treating] people against this new virus."
A new vaccine would normally take four to six months to develop and for the production of initial batches. The manufacture of significant amounts of the vaccine would require further months, by which time the threat of pandemic could be over, warned Mr. Fukuda.
In an unscheduled address to the press this afternoon, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters "The UN system is responding, quickly and effectively, with the Director General of the World Health Organization [WHO], Dr. Margaret Chan, taking the lead."
Announcing that the World Bank and other UN development and humanitarian agencies will provide funding to countries needing additional resources to combat an epidemic, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the poorer nations must not be hit disproportionately hard by a potential health crisis. "So far, our response has been an example of multilateral cooperation at its best. I am confident that it will continue to be so," he added.
Meanwhile, a team of experts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is helping to determine if the new virus strain has a direct connection to pigs. FAO will also dispatch a team of animal health experts to Mexico this week to help the Government assess the origin and transmission of the infection in the pig production sector, the release says. So far, the spread seems to be solely humans to human. Evidence that the virus entered the human population directly from pigs has not yet been established.
"There is no evidence of a threat to the food chain; at this stage it is a human crisis and not an animal crisis, but we have to be alert and prepared," said FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech. He added that FAO and others must first "ascertain if the new strain is circulating in pigs, establish if there are any direct linkages between the illness in the human population and animals and explain how this new virus has obtained genetic materials from human, bird and pig influenza strains."
Itar-Tass
