World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that an outbreak of bird flu that is showing signs in Vietnam would create a difficult burden on top of the recent Asian earthquake and tsunami.
“In this situation now, when we already have such a problem here in Asia with this earthquake and the aftermath of this earthquake, it will of course put a lot of strains on both individual countries like Vietnam as well as the international community,” said WHO health experts.
Though it seems that the recent cases of bird flu found in Vietnam appear isolated, health experts are leaving no stone unturned to detect any such cases that would lead to a wider outbreak.
Meanwhile, WHO officials are in southern Vietnam where they are trying to determine how an 18-year-old girl may have contracted avian influenza or bird flu. If confirmed, hers would be Vietnam's fourth case of bird flu in humans in recent weeks.
In this week itself, Vietnamese officials reported two new deaths from the disease: a six-year-old boy who died December 30, and a nine-year-old boy who died Tuesday. A 16-year-old girl is in the hospital in serious condition with the disease.
Last year, a highly contagious form of bird flu broke out in eight Asian countries. It was confined mostly to poultry flocks, but it also killed 22 people in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand.
Health authorities fear the virus may change into a form that is easily transmissible between humans leading to major pandemic, putting millions around the world at risk.
According to authorities bird-flu risk factors are likely to increase in the coming months as Asian countries prepare to celebrate Lunar New Year, a time when chicken is traditionally served. In addition, the virus is known to thrive under cold weather conditions.
