WHO: Expect more flu outbreaks in China

Via Reuters: WHO warns of more China bird flu outbreaks. This is a good article that deals with more than China—important though China is.

China announced on Wednesday a woman in eastern Anhui province had died from the H5N1 avian flu strain which was suspected in the death of a 12-year-old girl last month in southern Hunan.

The strain was confirmed in her 9-year-old brother who recovered. The World Health Organisation was "seeking further information" about a possible human infection in Liaoning province in China's far north, Henk Bekedam, WHO's chief official in Beijing, said.

"We expect there will be more poultry outbreaks to come," he told reporters, noting that the H5N1 virus that causes bird flu can survive longer in cold weather.

"As long as there are poultry outbreaks, people will be exposed to the virus and we can expect that people might get infected."

The story also quotes Dr. David Nabarro, the UN's coordinator for avian flu, as saying: "In the current circumstances, no country will want to have been found to have hidden anything. We have the beginnings of an unprecedented amount of honesty from some countries."

Let's hope Dr. Nabarro is right, and that losing face from lying will seem worse than losing face from telling the truth.

Comments

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I note the WHO official says we have the "beginnings" of unprecedented honesty from some countries. Sounds like they don't think China is being fully honest yet. I wouldn't rule out the Boxun story or that there haven't been more cases in China than we've heard about to date.

The comments from the Indonesian health official are also very worrying. He's basically saying they're overwhelmed and that the reported cases--which just jumped today--could be "just the tip of the iceberg."

Of course, this could be a way of pressuring the west for more support. But wealthy countries like ours would be very foolish not to give them everything they need at this stage.