WHO Sending Drugs to Protect Asian Chicken Cullers
Date: 02-Feb-04
Country: SWITZERLAND
There is still no vaccine to protect humans against the virus, which jumped the species barrier from poultry, but the U.N. health agency believes that taking the anti-viral medicine may stave off infection.
Eight people have died so far in the outbreak, six in Vietnam and two in Thailand, which are among 10 Asian countries where the virus has led to the slaughter of millions of poultry.
"In theory if Tamiflu works against influenza A, then it could work against bird flu," said WHO spokesman Iain Simpson, echoing the words of Swiss healthcare group Roche which developed the drug.
Simpson said WHO's office in Manila has Tamiflu supplies which it was preparing to send to Thailand and Vietnam.
Tamiflu, or oseltamivir, is a drug known as a neuraminidase inhibitor. It works for all common strains of human influenza (types A and B) by blocking the action of viral enzymes.
WHO officials viewed Tamiflu as a "very useful first line, particularly as prevention," said Simpson.
"People involved in culling of chickens inevitably become the first line of contact because if they are not properly protected, the risk is they will be exposed to the virus," he added.
The agency has expressed concern that many of those involved in the culling have worked without any protective equipment.
Goggles, respirator masks and prophylactic treatment with antiviral drugs had protected thousands of poultry workers and cullers during an outbreak of another type of avian flu in the Netherlands last year, according to the U.N. health agency.
Some 30 million birds were culled during that outbreak but the disease caused only mild illness in humans.
No one is sure how the bird flu spreads, although wild birds are the prime suspects. Nor do they know why it particularly lethal for children, with seven of the dead being under 16.
