bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Mary Ann

Mary Ann Benitez

The WHO faces  a race against  time to develop  a vaccine against  the killer virus

The spectre of a  pandemic is as real as ever, experts said yesterday as Asia tried to put a stop to rapidly spreading bird flu that has led to chicken slaughters in three countries and is feared to have killed at least 12 people in Vietnam.

University of Hong Kong virologist Malik Peiris said from London yesterday that genetic studies of the H5N1 virus which broke out in Hong Kong in the past two years showed the virus was quickly mutating.

'We have been concerned about this [H5N1] for some time. Since 2001, it has been re-assorting and changing continually. In 2002, it changed yet again,' Professor Peiris said.

'Also, from geese it jumped to chickens and in [the last Hong Kong outbreak at] Penfold Park, we saw it infect ducks.

'It caused deaths in humans  ... and finding this virus in other countries is a cause for concern.'

He said if this flu strain took hold in humans who had no immunity to it, the development of a H5N1 vaccine would be a matter of urgency.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said a  flu pandemic would be a bigger threat than Sars.

In the 1997 Hong Kong outbreak, six out of 18 people died - a 33 per cent death rate that rivalled the  Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918.

Studies by Professor Peiris and his HKU team found that H5N1 became a killer because  the body started attacking itself.

Those who died in 1997 suffered multiple organ failures. Chickens were also found to bleed shortly before they died 'probably because major organs, such as lungs and guts, were overwhelmed by the infection', recalled legislator for the medical sector and infectious disease specialist Lo Wing-lok.

The WHO's regional adviser in communicable disease surveillance and response, Hitoshi Oshitani, said a global effort was under way to develop a human H5N1 vaccine. 'We have arranged to begin a vaccination development programme,'  Dr Oshitani said from Hanoi.

He said the stock of antivirals was not enough to treat huge numbers of sick people.

'A flu pandemic is what we need to prevent. I still hope that the virus does not have the full capability  of human-to-human transmission,' he said.

Dominic Tsang Ngai-chong, a pathologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said: 'Whether human-to-human transmission is occurring is crucial to know. The jump of the species barrier would be very fatal, even more than Sars.'

City University microbiologist Desmond O'Toole said what was happening to bird flu was a result of farming practices in Asia in which ducks, chickens and pigs are raised together. 'The sale of live birds must also be stopped,' he added.

Migratory birds, such as wild ducks and geese, carry avian flu. Their role in the current outbreak is being examined by the WHO and Japanese experts.

'We have raised this question before,' Professor Peiris said, referring to the aftermath of the Penfold Park outbreak, in which wild ducks and geese died.

Hong Kong ordered biosecurity measures on farms, including bird-proof nets, to prevent the intrusion of migratory birds.



Experts warn of a bird-flu pandemic