Search This Blog

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Vietnam : Vaccine not magic bullet for bird flu

An article from Vietnam News :

" HA NOI : Vaccination was not a "magic bullet" against bird flu, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation Bangkok-based expert in viral diseases Subhash Morzaria said yesterday.

"It requires additional measures like surveillance, contingency plans and sound bio security," he told the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Capacity Building Workshop on Vaccination Against Avian Influenza in Ha Noi.

Although vaccination was an essential tool in countries with a high number of human infections and economic losses, bio security was recommened when the virus first appeared, he said.

"If it's not acceptable to kill a large number of animals, infected countries must use vaccination."
But surveillance should be used with all vaccination programmes to detect outbreaks early as well as the incursion of any mutations and changes in clinical signs.

Seventeen countries have reported avian influenza outbreaks in animals this year - 11 of them in Asia, including Viet Nam."

No comments:

Post a Comment