WHO Calls for Calm over Bird Flu

The World Health Organisation has called for calm as concern mounts about a bird flu epidemic developing in China. At the moment, the death toll stands at seven, with more than 20 people infected.

Chinese authorities have closed poultry markets and restricted the movement of birds around the country.

The World Health Organization has praised China's handling of the H7N9 bird flu outbreak, but says it'd still like to send a team of experts to help investigate. It's a sensitive matter and details such as when the team would go are still being worked out.

The head of the WHO's office in China Michael O'Leary says it's not the time to panic.

“We don't see any evidence of human-to-human transmission and we hope that that will remain the case - but of course none of us can predict the future, so it bears very close watching.”

The cases of the virus have so far been contained to the country's east in Shanghai and neighbouring provinces.

“The new episode of bird flu H7N9 is caused by a new type of virus belonging to the avian type, and it has started to spread out, but we have not found evidence of human to human transmission,” says Liang Wannian, director of China's H7N9 prevention and control office.

The number of people killed or infected has been slowly rising since the first case was confirmed just over a week ago.

As more cases are discovered, flocks are being culled and authorities are clamping down on the movement of poultry.

Hong Kong, which imports thousands of live chickens from China, will start testing for the virus at the border from Thursday.

“Quite appropriate to stop the movement of birds across big regions because that probably is what spreads the virus,” says infectious disease expert Professor Peter Collignon from the Australian National University Medical School.
“It's bad enough if you're in one area and exposed to this virus from certain birds, but what we don't want is the bird widely moved so that we're actually now having many more people exposed.”

During the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS a decade ago, China was criticised for being too slow to report cases and not giving enough information.

“Any country tends to be a bit reticent with the information that comes out and the more developing you are as a country, the more information's incomplete,” says Peter Collignon.

He thinks China has learnt its lesson from SARS in 2003. “There seems to be more information out in a meaningful way giving us details.”

He says there's not that much to worry about unless something dramatically changes with the virus. “This happens fairly regularly with influenza and the vast majority peter out and go nowhere.”