Just in from Reuters:
But no one is reported to have been infected among breeders on the farms, the North’s official KCNA news agency said. …
I can’t find an online copy of the lengthy article I read in the Feb. 28 issue of The New Yorker on avian flu. There is an online-only interview with the author, Michael Specter. A commentary at Recombinomics.com calls the lack of vigilance “scandalous“:
Thailand had 17 cases and 12 official bird flu deaths last season, and no reported cases this season, but both numbers lack credibility. …
Moreover, the recent New England Journal report on cases that had fatal H5N1 infections but failed to initially show respiratory symptoms raises the specter of more untested and / or unreported cases, which may extend well beyond the borders of Vietnam or Thailand.
In view of the fact that vigilance is one of the few weapons available, the failure to monitor H5N1 avian influenza remains scandalous.
More on the threat, from OnPointRadio:
The World Health Organization this week issued a serious alarm that the Asian bird flu outbreak, currently limited primarily to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, poses the “gravest possible danger” of turning into major global pandemic. The avian flu virus has affected poultry in eight Asian countries, and killed 45 people so far.
It may not sound like much, but this new, highly virulent and deadly virus is poised to make the leap from birds to a full-fledged human disease that could burn around the world. It has happened before. In 1918 the great flu pandemic killed some 20 to 50 million people worldwide. Global health officials say that if something isn’t done right now, this new avian flu could become a similar killer.
Cross-posted at Daily Kos: “North Korea Confirms Bird Flu Outbreak”
And I added USAID testimony before the Senate:
Currently, tuberculosis, malaria, and hepatitis B are considered to be endemic to the country, and other diseases if introduced into the country could have a devastating effect on the population. In particular, the possibility is great that SARS will enter the country through the porous border with China. The regime is making strenuous efforts to restrict the movement of people into the capitol city via air, including a 10-day quarantine for every traveler to Pyongyang. However, similar measures are not being undertaken at land crossings. If the disease takes hold, the impact would be tremendous.
and of course given the state of the N. Korean/Chinese border, it would be pretty easy for the bird flu to travel into China. And given the amount of travel people are doing in China these days….that could be catastrophic. Though one hopes China’s public health system improved after the SARS debacle…